US Airways to improve Web site for travelers

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Mar 29, 2004
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Christia Gibbons
courtesy newspaper of The Arizona Republic

Aug. 30, 2007 05:27 PM


Customers in US Airways hubs such as PHX, CLT and PHL are among those testing the Web site.

View attachment 6300

Changes:

• New, easier check-in.
• Travel advisories.

Still to come:

• Online gift-card redemption.
• Seven-day search window for low fares.



When America West merged with US Airways in 2005 it quickly became apparent that the carrier needed a better way to let its passengers travel through cyberspace.

Neither had an adequate Web site for all that came with the new company.

America West's site was technically up-to-date, but didn't have the type of navigation needed for a larger carrier offering lots of options.

"Its like America West was in the minor leagues and once we got into the majors, expectations were higher," said Travis Christ, vice president for sales and marketing for Tempe-based US Airways Group. "We moved from Phoenix and Las Vegas as the center of the world to Phoenix, Charlotte, Washington (D.C.) and New York."

So the airline set about revamping its Web site. The $10 million project, which is still ongoing, is expected to be complete by next summer. In the meantime, customers are likely to notice in changes and upgrades every few weeks.

An airline Web site, which has a direct bearing on revenue via ticket booking, needs to function smoothly.

And what was in place didn't.

For example, America West's Web page featured a drop-down menu of destinations. But the set-up didn't make sense for US Airways, which is part of the Star Alliance, a partnership program that connects 17 airlines worldwide to more than 800 destinations.

Now passengers simply type in the name of the city they wish to travel too.

The airline says that site changes are expected to speed up Web check-in by 50 percent and the booking process by 40 percent. Where it once took eight pages to get a boarding pass, it now takes two.

"There will be a day next summer when the look and feel will be different ... in the meantime, a lot of different stuff is kicking in about every eight weeks," Christ said.


Testing the changes

To help assess the redesign, passengers are testing the site.

US Airways has asked elite-class flyers for their opinions, and some 1,000 customers have given feedback.

US Airways passenger Kurt Erickson of Cave Creek has been part of the testing program.

He said he liked the larger print and more attractive design.

"More things stand out," Erickson said. "I was able to navigate the old one pretty easily, but the new one is going to be faster."

In addition, the airline is keeping track of what they are seeing from the everyday user.

US Airways has partnered with Bob Atkinson, a professor in the division of psychology in education at Arizona State University.

Recently, Atkinson was sitting at his computer in one of the US Airways club lounges at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, tracking and recording the eye movement of a volunteer using the new site.

He ran the volunteer through some common Web site uses, such as booking flights, checking status or checking in.

By scanning the movement of the user's eyeball, Atkinson said he could assess strengths and weaknesses of the site.

"It helps us identify where the customer is looking and what attracts their attention and what we might be missing," Atkinson said.



Competitive edge

Christ said US Airways is behind when it comes to its Web site because other major carriers had a 10-year head start in evolving, improving and expanding their sites.

"We fully recognize that our current site, while functional and capable, is still not the industry leading Web site that our customers expect," Christ said. "The new usairways.com will be competitive with the best in the industry and we have a small army of experts working to make that happen."

Delta Airlines and Continental Airlines, which feature easy to navigate Web sites that allow passengers to read about fare sales, check flight status, print a boarding pass and perform myriad other tasks, are considered industry leaders.

US Airways hopes to learn from them.

Considering Delta and Continental airlines the Web sites to beat, Christ added that, "We intend to take advantage of our rebuilding status to pick up best practices from across the industry and apply them to our site," Christ said.
 
Christ said US Airways is behind when it comes to its Web site because other major carriers had a 10-year head start in evolving, improving and expanding their sites.

Huh?



Does anyone know if US has (or if the old US East had) websites available in different languages? It seems like an international carrier with a growing presence in Europe should have something set up to attract more pax from other countries.
 
Most European carriers have multilingual sites, I've not seen that for US carriers.

Delta.com has languages readily available for around 30 different countries/languages. It's the very first link on the top of the website. I'd imagine UA/AA/CAL/NWA... have this feature as well.
 
Christia Gibbons
courtesy newspaper of The Arizona Republic

Aug. 30, 2007 05:27 PM


Customers in US Airways hubs such as PHX, CLT and PHL are among those testing the Web site.

View attachment 6300


It does look better. Glad they are doing this. Now I'd like to find the comedy in the article...

"Its like America West was in the minor leagues and once we got into the majors, expectations were higher," said Travis Christ, vice president for sales and marketing for Tempe-based US Airways Group. "We moved from Phoenix and Las Vegas as the center of the world to Phoenix, Charlotte, Washington (D.C.) and New York."

Um, overall, it feels like US Airways is in a MUCH more minor league than it was before. We are now Little League.

It still sure feels like they consider Phoenix and Las Vegas he center of the world. It is refreshing to see they have discovered Charlotte, and our two focus cities with the highest O&D potential where we hold some very valuable assets. Now, has anyone pointed out Philadelphia on the map? You know, the international gateway that is responsible for 40% of the revenue? Anyone?


By scanning the movement of the user's eyeball, Atkinson said he could assess strengths and weaknesses of the site.

I like that they are thinking outside the box here and hope they will bring this method to other departments. I hope they put someone on the aircraft to monitor the movements of MY eyeballs as I pull 80 sopping wet meals onto the dirty floor out of an unsanitary cardboard box to attempt to indivually cook them in a prehistoric galley on a 10 hour delayed flight to Europe at four in the morning.

Christ said US Airways is behind when it comes to its Web site because other major carriers had a 10-year head start in evolving, improving and expanding their sites.

This is about right, we are about 10-15 years behind our competition in many aspects.

"We fully recognize that our current site, while functional and capable, is still not the industry leading Web site that our customers expect," Christ said. "The new usairways.com will be competitive with the best in the industry and we have a small army of experts working to make that happen."

Do our customers expect 'industry-leading' from the new US Airways? :shock: And is this the same army behind the switch to the disaster that is SHARES?

Delta Airlines and Continental Airlines.... are considered industry leaders.

US Airways hopes to learn from them.

I think we could learn A LOT from both. Hope they sniff around more than thier websites.
They should have the site available in the languages of the countries it serves. Some have dedicated sites for certain markets, maybe US could have one for the UK, or Italy. I hope they have a Spanish language version already?
 
Delta.com has languages readily available for around 30 different countries/languages. It's the very first link on the top of the website. I'd imagine UA/AA/CAL/NWA... have this feature as well.

Actually not. Most of the country selections give you a choice of English only. That includes such diverse places as South Korea, Sweden, and Romania.

There are only about seven languages available for translation on the Delta website, which is about standard for the others you mentioned as well.
 
Christs words seem to finally :up: get out and say "US Airways is gone and America West has become into a mugh larger airline now called US Airways". Too bad it didn't stay the same.:(
 
Actually not. Most of the country selections give you a choice of English only. That includes such diverse places as South Korea, Sweden, and Romania.

There are only about seven languages available for translation on the Delta website, which is about standard for the others you mentioned as well.


Right you are. There are actually 8, though. Japanese, English, French, Spanish, Russian, Italian, Portugese, and German. As Delta expands to other international locales, the list will grow as well i'm sure. I think Chinese will need to be added soon.
 
Christ said US Airways is behind when it comes to its Web site because other major carriers had a 10-year head start in evolving, improving and expanding their sites.

"We fully recognize that our current site, while functional and capable, is still not the industry leading Web site that our customers expect," Christ said. "The new usairways.com will be competitive with the best in the industry and we have a small army of experts working to make that happen."

What an absolutely stupid remark. Companies that didn't exist a few years ago have better websites than US Airways. The old US Airways website was a quantum leap better than the current one. 10 years of experience shouldn't make much difference in a field that has changed as rapidly as this one. What matters is what's current and finding the right people to do the job correctly the first time. An idea that ought to be applied to most of managements decisions since it seems their theory is to do everything half-assed the first time so they can learn from screwing things up and pissing off people.
 
"Um, overall, it feels like US Airways is in a MUCH more minor league than it was before. We are now Little League."

:up: LLC sounds better than LCC!!!!!!!!!!
 
Christs words seem to finally :up: get out and say "US Airways is gone and America West has become into a mugh larger airline now called US Airways". Too bad it didn't stay the same.:(

What are you talking about? Your comment makes no sense and is erroneous.

It's called "Reading Comprehension" and is taught in most elementary schools -- sign up for a class and learn it before you post more drivel.

On another note, I agree with EMBFA with everything he said. This website is an improvement, and it is nice to see them thinking outside of the box. Perhaps this is a glimmer of hope that things will get back on track. :lol:
 
So exactly what "improvements" did HP bring to this merger ? The IT dept, website , qik/shares... If these are improvements , what would regressions be. Sabre , the old website? Outside of a nearly inept management team , the HP side has brought next to nothing to this combination. Most all the profits are still coming from EAST. The west side continues to lose. And we are stuck with a POS res system (qik/shares), a pathetic website, and a useless IT dept. Way to go Tempe.
 
has anyone been o n this new site yet ?
i want to check it out and see how good it really is.
 

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