Qantashas implemented an automated
load-control system, which marks another step towards a new
generation of IT systems for theairline industry.
The system is first component of a departure control module from
Amadeus and follows modules for reservation and inventory
management.
Qantas chief information officer, John Willet, said the new
loading system receives data directly from the airline's load
planning, freight, fuelling and airport information systems,
eliminating manual processes.
"The autoload function ensures items to be loaded on to the
aircraft are allocated positions to optimise fuel efficiency and
streamline loading and unloading," said Willet.
The business benefit of the system is in the increased
productivity of staff and greater efficiency through automation and
process optimisation.
"Qantas has proved to be an extremely valuable partner in
developing requirements and testing one of the industry's most
advanced technology platforms," said David Jones, Amadeus
commercial executive vice-president.
Every airline in the world is looking for new passenger services
systems based on new technology that is more reliable and better
able to handle modern data volumes than current systems based on
legacy technology.
"It is time to move on from systems that have been updated and
improved in the past 30 years to 40 years, but still rely on legacy
technology with all its inherent limitations," said Jones.
A shift to new technology is also being prompted by business
decisions to move away from proprietary IT systems that are
difficult and expensive to maintain.
"We foresee a shift in the buy-make boundary away from in-house
systems to common and standard systems delivered using an ASP model
on a Linux platform," said Jones.
The next element of Amadeus' departure-control system is a
customer management module for check-in, boarding and baggage
management, which is expected to be introduced by Qantas in mid
2008.
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