The following appeared on commercial newswire today. Given the overwhelming
number of stories about UNIX, I thought that some might find it enjoyable to
read an article where the HP3000 and IMAGE/SQL are prominently mentioned.
Wirt Atmar
==========================
HP Mainframe-class Servers and Printers to Help Southwest Airlines Expand
Ticketless Travel Program Nationwide; New Solution Provides Added Customer
Convenience and is Expected to Reduce Operation Costs Significantly
PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 14, 1995-- Hewlett-Packard Company
and Southwest Airlines today announced that the Dallas-based airline will
use HP mainframe-class servers to expand its ticketless travel program to
airports in 48 cities nationwide. The PA-RISC(1)-based HP 3000 Corporate
Business System Model 995 will be connected real-time to about 5,000 PCs and
terminals across the country.
The airline also plans to install two HP 9000 servers in the future to run
its passenger-revenue-accounting and cargo-operations management systems.
Several hundred HP laser printers are used for these and a variety of other
applications, such as office automation, throughout the company.
According to Southwest Airlines, a pioneer in low-cost, air transportation,
it is the first airline to offer ticketless travel on all of its flights. It
began its ticketless program is September of last year in test markets in
Texas, Arkansas and California.
"Boarding passengers is the lifeblood of an airline, and it is essential
that the reservations activity be on a proven, time-tested platform," said
Robert W. Rapp, vice president of systems for Southwest Airlines. "We were
confident of developing our own ticketless system using the HP 3000, because
of its proven high reliability.
"The new ticketless program has been very popular with customers," said
Rapp. "We are averaging 15,000 ticketless passengers a day with a lot of
repeat customers. And that's without any advertising!
"Ticketless reservations are already a reality in car rentals and hotels,
and we are definitely at the beginning of the trend in the airline
industry."
The new travel offering is an extension of the airline's ongoing efforts
to improve customer service and lower operating costs.
TRAVEL PROCESS MADE EASIER
Southwest Airlines says its customers find the ticketless travel a natural
extension of the carrier's longtime policy of not issuing advance boarding
passes and awarding seats strictly on a first-come, first-served basis.
Ticketless travel speeds and streamlines the boarding process because
people don't have to wait in line to buy tickets.
The ticketless software program developed by Southwest was based on the HP
3000 server running HP's IMAGE/SQL database-management software. The
program allows the customer to reserve a flight and receive a confirmation
code over the phone, then simply swap the code for a boarding pass at the
airport. This paperless transaction eliminates anxiety over late-arriving
or misplaced airline tickets.
With as few as three keystrokes, airline personnel at the boarding gate can
call up a passenger's name, record that the person has checked in, and enter
the person's boarding-pass number.
All transactions are done in real-time via an HP 3000 computer in Dallas that
runs the ticketless repository, an important new tool in keeping track of
information associated with ticketless customers.
Reservations centers are linking up to the system's TCP/IP network via a
Novell LAN.
COST SAVINGS EXPECTED IN '95
"It costs between $15 and $30 to produce a paper airline ticket, so there
are obvious savings associated with ticketless air travel," said Rapp.
"Ticketless travel will allow us to maintain our low-fare structure. We
save the cost of sending a ticket to a customer, which includes paper,
postage, printing, labor and travel-agency commissions."
Some industry analysts estimate that airlines could each save up to $1
billion a year by eliminating tickets.(2)
MORRIS AIR TICKETLESS PROGRAM
Southwest Airlines' ticketless reservations system was based on the success
of Salt Lake City-based Morris Air's program. Southwest acquired Morris on
Dec. 31, 1993.
"Morris Air had already been offering a ticketless alternative to customers
based on the HP 3000 computer and software developed by Dave Evans at
Morris," Rapp said. "We were very impressed by Morris' reservations
operation, and central to its success was the reliability of the HP 3000 to
operate its ticketless product.
"However, our ticketless service differs enough from the Morris system that
we couldn't just turn on the switch and go. We have different refund
policies, agent-commission programs and other back-office tasks that
required a major modification of the software.
"Shortly after the Morris acquisition, another development within the
industry accelerated the decision to offer ticketless service. Some travel
agents were excluded from ticketing passengers on Southwest Airlines planes
because of the actions of rival airlines that own and operate the most
popular reservations systems.
"This action could have impeded distribution of our service through
traditional channels -- the travel agent community," said Rapp. "It also
forced us to take a close look at what travel agencies do for us -- generate
and distribute tickets. Our options were to develop a front-end program to
allow agents to print tickets for our flights, or eliminate the requirement
for tickets. We said, 'Let's get rid of the tickets.'"
Rapp's team worked closely with consultants Evan Airline Information
Services, headed by the prime developer of Morris Air's ticketless program,
Dave Evans. Four months later, the first ticketless passengers boarded
flights in the Dallas/Houston/Little Rock, Ark. market. On Nov. 1, the
service was extended to include the bustling intra-California routes.
Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HWP) is a leading global manufacturer of
computing, communications and measurement products and services recognized
for excellence in quality and support. HP has 98,200 employees and had
revenue of $25 billion in its 1994 fiscal year.
0-
NOTE TO EDITORS:
(1) PA-RISC stands for Precision Architecture, HP's name for its
reduced-instruction-set computing (RISC) technology. RISC is a
microprocessor architecture that uses simpler instructions and that
therefore can perform computations faster than the traditional
complex-instruction-set computing (CICS) architecture.
(2) Wall Street Journal article by staff writer Jonathan Dahl on Nov. 30,
1994.
CONTACT: Hewlett-Packard Co.
Southwest Airlines
Transmitted: 95-03-14 11:20:22 EST
==========================
|
