Airline+reservation+systems


 * 1. Describe the term **

** Airline reservation systems ** are used to track and maintain records of flight schedules, passenger reservations and seat assignments, aircraft loading, flight inventory, ticket purchases and fare tariffs. The modern airline reservation system also serves customer needs from the beginning to the end of each customer's reserved flight, therefore laying out management tasks for each flight.

**2. Describe the use of IT**
- Record of customers, flight information, reservation, expenses, transaction.
 * Database**

Airline companies will keep records of all flight reservation and other relevant information regarding reservation.

- Payment - Reservation
 * Internet**

Internet is the key component in the use of IT in reservation system. Through Internet, airline companies post up advertisement, flight information and relevant notification to attract, inform and acclimate customers. Also, payment can be done online through online banking and transaction.

An Internet booking engine (IBE) is an application, which helps the travel and tourism industry support reservation through the Internet. It helps consumers to book flights, hotels, holiday packages, insurance and other services online.
 * Internet Booking Engine**

An Internet booking engine allows a customer to specify their travel requirements such as city of departure, destination, departure date, return date and class of travel. Once this information is received, the IBE will offer a list of available air tickets, hotels and excursions, which the customer can then book.

- Online reservation: - Computer Reservation System
 * Global Distribution System (GDS)**

A worldwide-computerized reservation network used as a single point of access for reserving airline seats, hotel rooms, rental cars, and other travel related items by travel agents, online reservation sites, and large corporations. The premier global distribution systems are Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre, and World span. They are owned and operated as joint ventures by major airlines, car rental companies, and hotel groups. Also called automated reservation system (ARS) or computerized reservation system (CRS).

A computer reservations system (CRS) is a computerized system used to store and retrieve information and conduct transactions related to air travel. Originally designed and operated by airlines, CRSes were later extended for the use of travel agencies. Major CRS operations book and sell tickets for multiple airlines (GDS). Airlines have divested most of their direct holdings to dedicated GDS companies, who make their systems accessible to consumers through Internet gateways. Modern GDSes typically allow users to book hotel rooms and rental cars as well as airline tickets. They also provide access to railway reservations in some markets although these are not always integrated with the main system


 * XML-based** **technologies**

Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specificationproduced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards.

XML can be used to support air reservation booking or to implement optional services and merchandising functions in the booking process. Another important application of XML is the establishing of direct connections between Airlines and Travel Agencies.

** 3. Explain how IT helps with each area. ** A reservation system allows for an entire airline company to connect to each other through a massive database. Because the database is web-based, it makes booking easier, and can be done from anywhere in the world. People are able to log in onto the website, give their information, put in dates, chose seats and organize a flight for a few months away quickly and easily. Also, it assures seating, and eliminates the chance of loosing a flight ticket, because it is done electronically.

Airline ticket agents can access the reservation systems to make flight arrangements, view current reservations, and check passenger lists, as well as many other functions. Airline agents as well as travel agents can issue both paper tickets and e-tickets for a booking made on the system, which conform, to the IATA standard. E-tickets are also issued online via the Internet booking engine for any booking made by the public. Videcom provide multiple channels for airlines to access the reservation system including:
 * Online Direct Internet Access for the public to make a booking with the airline through the Internet booking engine.
 * Direct travel agency sales via a secure online Internet booking engine providing a booking facility for travel agents without GDS and BSP fees.
 * Native Mode booking interfaces with a direct connection to the reservation system for airline staff and travel agents with experience of tradition style airline reservation systems.
 * An interlining interface, which allows airlines to make a booking on and receive bookings from other airlines on other reservation systems.
 * GDS interfaces to the Videcom reservation system allowing any travel agent using Galileo, Sabre, Worldspan, Amadeus or Abacus to make a booking with the airline
 * GDS interfaces to the Videcom reservation system allowing any travel agent using Galileo, Sabre, Worldspan, Amadeus or Abacus to make a booking with the airline
 * GDS interfaces to the Videcom reservation system allowing any travel agent using Galileo, Sabre, Worldspan, Amadeus or Abacus to make a booking with the airline


 * 4. Describe any problems with IT in each area. **
 * 1) Lost reservations due to software malfunctions or corrupt data caused by database.
 * 2) Complicated to use at times since some individuals many not have the greatest grasp of how to use the Internet.
 * 3) Unhelpful/ unfriendly customer service from the airline company.
 * 4) On some websites, the act of posting negative reviews about the company has been banned (expedia.com, for example, is such a website)
 * 5) Travel agents may loose money or suffer unemployment since Internet and Computer replace their works.
 * 6) The website may not display all flights, hotels, or rental cars available due to technical issues or late updates.
 * 7) Information may not be up date
 * 8) Personal information must be given in order to book anything (i.e. credit cards and last names), which can be exposed to privacy danger

- Information (last name, address, credit card numbers, etc) sent over the Internet should be secured. - Information stored on database should be protected properly from malicious attacks or hacking.
 * 5. Identify and explain possible issues with each area. (Strand 1) **
 * Security

- Login and password is required to access the website prevent issues of identity theft.
 * Authenticity

- Personal information of customers should not be sold to third parties for benefit of the airline company.
 * Privacy and anonymity

- Unreliable information on the website due to late updates or technical issues may cause confusion and problems for customers.
 * Reliability:

- Customers tend to turn towards software because they find it more convenient and faster than the travel agents, causing unemployment among travel agents.
 * People and Machines

- Not everyone may have access to a computer or to the internet - Not everyone may find that using the internet to book their trip is easier - People all over the world should have equal access and use the travel companies’ websites
 * Equality of Access

- Through the use of reservation systems people have the ability to travel all over the world and share traveling information.
 * Globalization and cultural diversity

Sources: [] https://itgs-jess.wikispaces.com/Reservation+Systems [] http://itgsopedia.wikispaces.com/2.1+Transportation [] []