A MAGAZINE FOR AIRLINE EXECUTIVES 2011 Issue No. 1 2011 Issue No. 1 Taking your airline to new heights SkyTeam: Caring More About You A Conversation With … Leo van Wijk, Chairman, SkyTeam Pg. 10 www.sabreairlinesolutions.com 18 Strategic commercial planning 46 Avianca-TACA merger changed Latin 63 Merchandising through GDS gives airlines increases airline revenues America aviation additional storefront making contact Taking your airline to new heights 2011 Issue No. 1 To suggest a topic for a possible For more information about products Editor in Chief future article, change your and services featured in this issue of Stephani Hawkins address or add someone to the Ascend, please visit our website at mailing list, please send an email www.sabreairlinesolutions.com Art Direction/Design Charles Urich message to the Ascend staff at or contact one of the following [email protected]. Sabre Airline Solutions regional Managing Editor representatives: B. Scott Hunt Associate Editor Bradley Bennett Contributors Khaled Al-Eisawi, Elizabeth Bari, Chris Bird, Asia Pacific North America Antonio Diaz, Greg Gilchrist, Helen Harden, David Chambers Mike Douglass Rebecca Herbig, Brian Houser, Beatriz James, General Manager General Manager Anthony Mills, Benjamin Mussler, Dana Netzer, Phone: +65 6215 9518 Phone: +1 682 605 5349 Juan Parra, Kamal Qatato, Nancy St. Pierre, Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Chad Tibor, Susan Via. Publisher Europe Alessandro Ciancimino Sabre Airline Solutions, the Sabre George Lynch General Manager E-mail: [email protected] Airline Solutions logo and products www.sabreairlinesolutions.com Phone: +39 348 3708240 Email: [email protected] noted in italics in this publication are trademarks and/or service marks of an Awards Latin America affiliate of Sabre Holdings Corp. All Kamal Qatato other trademarks, service marks and General Manager Phone: +1 682 605 5399 trade names are the property of their Email: [email protected] respective owners. ©2011 Sabre Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. Awards for Publication Excellence, Middle East And Africa Address Corrections And Reader Inquiries 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 Maher Koubaa If you have questions about this publication, General Manager suggested topics for future articles or would like ECO Awards For Excellence In Phone: +973 38350001 to change your address, please send an email to Environmental Communications: 2009 Email: [email protected] [email protected]. Hermes Creative Awards: 2010, 2009, 2008 International Association of Business Communicators Bronze Quill: 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 International Association of Business Communicators Gold Quill: 2006, 2005 International Association of Business Communicators Silver Quill: 2008, 2006, 2005, 2004 MarCom Platinum Award: 2010 The Communicator Award: 2010, 2008 perspective end to its Amadeus reservations technol- ogy, as well as various other systems, to provide employees with in-depth customer information, allowing for a personalized, seamless customer experience. A seamless experience far transcends your airline’s end-to-end operations. It spans across all your airline partners as well. For those carriers that have joined forces but continue to operate indepen- dently, it’s significant to them as well. And as partners come and go or changes are made among partners, they must be able to link up their technology to provide that seamless customer experience. It’s simply the way forward in our highly competitive industry. with Tom Klein On our cover, SkyTeam Chairman Leo President, Sabre Holdings van Wijk discusses how joint service standards are required of its members to ensure their customers have a seamless ears ago moving passengers from point the tools you need to outperform your travel experience. He talks about how A to point B was the main focus of an greatest expectations today, tomorrow IT link ups are the basis for providing Y airline. While that is still a primary objec- and always. quality services and meeting customers’ tive, today, passengers want more. They That’s why in recent years we’ve expectations. want to get what they pay for, and they want acquired a number of businesses such In our special section about industry alli- to have control over the financial side of their as EB2, f:wz, Calidris, Flight Explorer, ances, mergers and consolidation, we talk experience. But it goes far beyond finances Flightline and others to enable more about new revenue optimization business and value. They want to move seamlessly capabilities. Some of the key technology processes that help carriers maximize through their journey from start to finish. we needed to move our vision forward global revenue of mergers and joint ven- For that to happen, technology must, already existed. So rather than reinvent- tures rather than the local revenue of too, be seamless. Airlines have tradition- ing the wheel, we brought some of the individual member airlines. ally developed and deployed technology most advanced systems into Sabre Airline We also focus on the overall theme of to address specific needs or areas of their Solutions so we could provide you with partnerships — identifying which airlines business. However, that has led to divi- solid, end-to-end solutions and services make suitable partners, how partnering sions and silos among the systems and that work well together as well as with and alliance membership makes sense across departments. We need to remove external applications. for the survival of some airlines, and the barriers that exist between systems to Calidris, for example, brought real-time knowledge and tools that make these allow airlines to operate more efficiently revenue integrity to our portfolio. During business shifts successful. and respond proactively to the changing the first four months of using our real-time I hope you enjoy this issue of Ascend, dynamics of the marketplace. revenue integrity technology, SriLankan and I look forward to working with you That’s our focus — technology that Airlines generated more than US$11 mil- to ensure your airline has what it needs frees you to conduct business seamlessly lion from the release of seats back to to make every one of your customers’ across your entire organization with a sales. And Kuwait Airways gained US$26 journeys as seamless and pleasurable as platform that enables you to do business million in value benefits during the first possible. the way you want and need to without five months of implementing the soft- constraints. We may not know exactly ware. Those are the kinds of results we Tom what the airline industry will look like 10 expect to deliver. And it’s only possible if years down the road, but what we do we move away from technology platforms know is that technology has to evolve that lock you into a single approach and before the industry evolves … not after onto one that is completely open and the fact. transparent. Whether you work with our systems, We know that most airlines in the your own systems or those of a third- future will continue to rely on a mix of party provider, we want to make sure all in-house technology in addition to technol- your systems work together smoothly. ogy from Sabre Airline Solutions and other Providing that level of seamlessness and providers. What’s important is that we transparency is our vision not only near offer solutions and a technology platform term, but well into the future. It’s a new that will link to any and all systems … not way of doing business and managing just our own. technology, and we’ve built it into our For example, British Airways uses our long-term strategy to ensure you have business process solutions as the front ASCEND I TABLE OF CONTENTS 18 PROFILE INDUSTRY 6 18Air Stategic Commercial 33 Peacock Proud Planning: A Winning Strategy Betting The Company SriLankan Airlines generates A sound commercial planning Airbus and Boeing have made more than US$11 million using strategy reaps monetary benefits massive investments in the revenue integrity technology development of their new flagship 22 Load Planning: aircraft 10 SkyTeam: Caring Harnessing Aerodynamics More About You Effective load planning saves Leo van Wijk shares his ideas airlines time and money about several key aspects of the SkyTeam alliance 26 Air Traffic Modernization: A NextGen Update 14 Big plans are underway to secure Manmade Diamond a better ATC environment Kuwait Airways makes millions using its new real-time revenue 30 Airline Merchandising integrity system Evolution Technology helps airlines and corporate travel programs achieve their respective goals 6 50 ascend ASCEND I TABLE OF CONTENTS SPECIAL SECTION COMPANY SOLUTIONS 54 63 38 Silver Lining The Game Changer Air Extras Identifying suitable airline Sabre Airlines Solutions acquired Merchandising through GDSs with partners can be simplified with f:wz for its extraordinary flight new technology gives airlines an appropriate knowledge and tools planning technology additional storefront from which to market and sell products and 43 Growing Revenue Globally, 57 services Acting Locally Let’s Talk … Anytime New revenue optimization Effective communication through business processes help a number of vehicles ensures 66 Aerodynamics Don’t Change; maximize the global revenue of airline customers’ needs are Aircraft Load Planning Does joint ventures and mergers being met Weight and balance and center of gravity are critical to legally and 46 Two Is Better 60 efficiently operating aircraft Than One Pushing Boundaries The Avianca-TACA merger Technology must be easily 69 changed the landscape of Latin adaptable for future modifications Up In The Air America’s aviation industry The Sabre Qik Solution boosts customer service and operational 50 efficiency The Sports Car Southwest Airlines’ purchase of AirTran Holdings gives the airline access to new markets that 43 appeal to leisure and business travelers alike 60 ascend At magazine, we want to provide you with valuable information that will be beneficial to your business, but if we were to include an article for every topic, you’d likely be looking at a novel rather than a magazine.