Airlifting passenger spirits with infotech

Intense competition is persuading domestic airlines to get increasingly tech-savvy and innovate in a bid to becoming world-class airlines while simultaneously increasing passenger travel comfort.

Consider this. Liquor baron Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines is planning to install a landscape camera at the bottom of the aircraft that will enable passengers get a view of the take-off and landing of their airplane when flying on domestic routes.

Till date, the landscape camera features were only available on international airlines like Cathay Pacific and Virgin Atlantic.

"Kingfisher Airlines is going to the most tech-savvy airline. Apart from the landscape camera, we will be the first airline to allow GSM phones by next year. We are already providing live TV as part of our high-end In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) initiatives," says Kingfisher Airlines Executive Vice President Hitesh Patel.

The airline recently introduced the concept of a roving agent at the airport whereby a staff member assists passengers with hand baggage to check-in with the help of a mobile digital device and printer. Jet Airways too later introduced this facility at select airports.

"Travel comfort, easy access to tickets and reducing time to check-in are the prime objectives. A considerable amount of money is saved by automation. More machines mean less headcount," an industry analyst observes.

Not to be left behind, public sector airline Air-India is exploring the possibility of launching an information technology (IT) subsidiary to handle its automation activities.

It has already implemented an Oracle enterprise resource planning (ERP) system this April. With this, Air-India has bridged the gap in financial architecture with most advanced airlines in the world.

"We will rollout the ERP system at 59 outstations, both in India and abroad, over the next three months. When fully implemented, we will be in a position to close the books of the account and publish financial results every month, promptly within a week after the closure of month. The Management Information System (MIS) generated through the system will be used by the top management for speedy decision-making," says Air-India Executive Director S Venkat.

Satyam Computer Systems is the implementation partner. Air-India, which has recently started e-ticketing, has plans to implement HRMS, MRO and CRM solutions on ERP platform soon for HRD, engineering and commercial respectively.

Jet Airways has launched an Interactive Voice Response (IVR)-based payment and ticketing services. The service will allow passengers to complete their reservation with credit cards through a secure gateway and instantly receive their e-tickets via email.

The airline, along with telecom major Hutch, had launched M-ticketin for airline bookings for Hutch customers with GPRS-enabled phones, who are also Jet frequent flyers. With this facility, passengers can now book, pay and generate e-tickets on their phones. The solution was developed by C-Sam Inc, founded by Sam Pitroda.

And not to be outdone, low-cost carriers of the country such as Air Deccan, SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo are currently allowing a web-check apart from online booking.

Chennai-based Paramount Airways, a full service carrier, is facilitating kiosks for ticket reservations.