US Airways to implement single res system for merged line
(03/01/2007)
By Andrew Compart
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US Airways plans to switch to a single internal reservations system in the early morning hours March 4, which, among other things, means the America West "HP" code will disappear from GDSs.
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Some US Airways flights still will show up as "operated by America West," however, because US Airways and America West are still on separate operating certificates. Combining the US Airways and America West reservations systems was one of the major steps the merged airline needed to complete before getting a single operating certificate, which it hopes to attain by the end of June.
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The integration also will provide some benefits for the airline's passengers. For example, they'll be able to check in at the airport using any of the airline's kiosks or check-in lines, rather than a kiosk or line designated for flights operated by either US Airways or America West, although it may take a bit longer for the airport signage to reflect that new reality.
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The integration also should eliminate some Web site errors that have occurred because the site was "talking" to two reservation systems, US Airways spokesman Morgan Durrant said.
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US Airways has been using Sabre for its internal reservation system, but is switching everything to the SHARES system used by America West.
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Between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. EST March 4, if all goes according to schedule, the airline will shut down both systems. The SHARES system is scheduled to restart at 4 a.m.
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According to Durrant, the airline picked a weekend and a time when a two-hour shutdown would have the least impact on flights.
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The shutdown will impact 33 flights, 31 of them late-night flights out of Las Vegas. Agents at the airport there will be pre-printing boarding passes and luggage tags for customers on those flights, Durrant said.
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Internal reservation systems integration comes with some customer service risk -- and has caused problems for other airlines in the past -- as some employees struggle to adapt to the new system. But US Airways said it has been preparing for the switchover for a year, developed software so that its Sabre users had a user interface that looked like the one for SHARES and began training Sabre users on SHARES itself several months ago.
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To contact reporter Andrew Compart, send e-mail to [email protected].
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http://www.travelweekly.com/articles.aspx?articleid=55285
(03/01/2007)
By Andrew Compart
Â
US Airways plans to switch to a single internal reservations system in the early morning hours March 4, which, among other things, means the America West "HP" code will disappear from GDSs.
Â
Some US Airways flights still will show up as "operated by America West," however, because US Airways and America West are still on separate operating certificates. Combining the US Airways and America West reservations systems was one of the major steps the merged airline needed to complete before getting a single operating certificate, which it hopes to attain by the end of June.
Â
The integration also will provide some benefits for the airline's passengers. For example, they'll be able to check in at the airport using any of the airline's kiosks or check-in lines, rather than a kiosk or line designated for flights operated by either US Airways or America West, although it may take a bit longer for the airport signage to reflect that new reality.
Â
The integration also should eliminate some Web site errors that have occurred because the site was "talking" to two reservation systems, US Airways spokesman Morgan Durrant said.
Â
US Airways has been using Sabre for its internal reservation system, but is switching everything to the SHARES system used by America West.
Â
Between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. EST March 4, if all goes according to schedule, the airline will shut down both systems. The SHARES system is scheduled to restart at 4 a.m.
Â
According to Durrant, the airline picked a weekend and a time when a two-hour shutdown would have the least impact on flights.
Â
The shutdown will impact 33 flights, 31 of them late-night flights out of Las Vegas. Agents at the airport there will be pre-printing boarding passes and luggage tags for customers on those flights, Durrant said.
Â
Internal reservation systems integration comes with some customer service risk -- and has caused problems for other airlines in the past -- as some employees struggle to adapt to the new system. But US Airways said it has been preparing for the switchover for a year, developed software so that its Sabre users had a user interface that looked like the one for SHARES and began training Sabre users on SHARES itself several months ago.
Â
To contact reporter Andrew Compart, send e-mail to [email protected].
Â
http://www.travelweekly.com/articles.aspx?articleid=55285
