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 ==========================