Airline Basics v 0.

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DISTRIBUTION NETWORKS

The Airline Reservations System (ARS) was one of the earliest changes to improve
efficiency. ARS eventually evolved into the Computer Reservations System (CRS),
and then into Global Distribution System (GDS).
A computer reservations system (CRS) is a computerized system used to store and
retrieve information and conduct transactions related to air travel. Originally designed
and operated by airlines, CRSes were later extended for the use of travel agents; major
CRS operations that book and sell tickets for multiple airlines are known as global
distribution systems (GDS). Airlines have divested most of their direct holdings to
dedicated GDS companies, who make their systems accessible to consumers through
Internet gateways. Modern GDSs typically allow users to book hotel rooms and rental
cars as well as airline tickets and other services.

The following is a partial list of Global Distribution Systems (four of them are major GDS
and the rest are smaller or regional GDS) [Note: In Dec2006, Travelport which owns
Galileo GDS agreed to buy and merge with Worldspan GDS and the combined company
will then hold 40+ % of the market share of the four major GDS].

1A Amadeus
1S Sabre (previously 1W)
1G Galileo
1P Worldspan
1B Abacus (Asia/Pacific)
1E Travelsky (China)
1F Infini (Japan)
1J Axess (Japan)
Atraxis (ex-swissair now EDS)
Topas (Korea)
Fantasia (South Pacific)
SITA's Gabriel

The major GDSs

Sabre
Sabre Travel Network a division of Sabre Holdings Corp. (USA), a privately-held company
owned by affiliates of Texas Pacific Group (TPG Partners) and SilverLake
Partners: VirtuallyThere.com (Sabre PNR access Web site), Travelocity.com (retail travel
agency; a division of Sabre)

Galileo/Apollo
Galileo is a division of Travelport owned by TDS Investor (Bermuda) Ltd., an offshore
holding company affiliated with the Blackstone Private Equity Group, whose other
divisions include Orbitz.com and several travel wholesalers, consolidators, and
technology companies. Galileo is also known in the USA and Canada by its "Apollo" brand
name.

Amadeus
Amadeus Global Travel Distribution S.A. a publicly traded (Madrid Stock Exchange)
Spanish corporation, with its principal marketing, research and development facility near
Nice, France and its primary operations and data center in Erding, Germany. A substantial
minority of shares are owned either directly or indirectly by airlines.

Amadeus is the only one of the four major CRS's still owned by airlines, and the only one
of the four based in the European Union rather than the USA.

CRS/GDS
A few airlines, including jetBlue and Southwest in the USA, have built their own hosting
systems, with limited connections to the CRS's so that travel agencies can make
reservations through their CRS's. Continental, US Airways and some other airlines in the
USA and abroad (notably including Virgin Atlantic) use the SHARES system run by EDS.
SHARES doesn't have travel agency subscribers, only airline users, and isn't considered a
CRS or regulated as one. But in many other respects SHARES resembles a CRS, and it has
interfaces to all four major CRS's.

CRS's/GDS's don't just store data: they also are the center of travel networking.
CRS's/GDS's connect airlines to each other, to travel agencies, and to car rental
companies, hotels, cruise lines, tour operators, and other providers of travel services.

Whenever you make a reservation, a PNR is created. A Passenger Name Record (PNR) is
the basic form of computerized travel record.
PNR's cannot be deleted: once created, they are archived and retained in the CRS/GDS,
and can still be viewed, even if you never bought a ticket and cancelled your
reservations.

All airlines and CRS's/GDS's include an audit-trail feature called the "history". Once a PNR
is created, each entry is logged in the PNR "history" with the date, time, place, user ID,
and other information of the travel agent, airline staff person, or automated system who

made the entry, as well as the name of the traveler or other person, such as a business
associate or family member, who requested the entry or change. Each entry in each PNR,
even for a solo traveler, thus contains personally identifiable information on at least 2,
often 3 or 4, people: the traveler, the travel arranger or requester, the travel agent or
airline staff person, and the person paying for the ticket.

PNR's contain data on individuals who made reservations, but did not actually travel -even if they never even purchased tickets. A PNR can be cancelled, but the audit trail or
"history" of the PNR, showing when and by whom each entry in the PNR was made, is
always retained at least until the last date of an of the reservations, active or cancelled,
in the PNR.

PNR's also contain data on individuals who never travel by air at all: the vast majority of
car rental and hotel reservations, and some bookings for cruises and other travel
services, made through travel agencies, are made through a CRS/GDS and entered into a
PNR, even if they do not involve air travel. Because of the use of PNR's in a CRS/GDS as a
CRM system and the basis of most travel agency accounting systems, most corporate
and many leisure travel agencies create PNR's for all reservations of any type, whether or
not they were actually booked through a CRS/GDS.

Each entry in a PNR "history" includes a "received from" field identifying the person who
requested the reservation or change. PNR's thus include personally identifiable
information on travel arrangers, such as corporate and professional personal assistants
and administrative staff, travel managers, event organizers, and family members and
friends assisting with travel arrangements.

PNR's also include extremely detailed, personally identifiable data on travel industry
personnel, particularly travel agents and airline reservation, check-in, and ticketing staff.
Each entry in a PNR history includes a field identifying the unique "agent sine" or log-in
ID of the person making the entry, along with the city or "pseudo-city" (airline office or
travel agency branch or location) and the LNIATA or "set address" of the terminal or data
connection on which the entry was made (the CRS/GDS or airline hosting system
counterpart of an Internet IP address) and the exact time of the entry. In the aggregate,
PNR's thus provide a comprehensive and extremely detailed record of every entry made
by tens of thousands of travel agents and airline reservation staff: what was entered,
when, where, by whom, and for whom.

The system architectures of the four major GDSs are largely based on a mainframe
Transaction Processing Facility framework, which, while reliable and capable of large
workloads, has relatively little processing power and can be expensive to maintain and
upgrade. Recently, the companies have begun selectively migrating processes from their
older mainframes to service-oriented architectures. By using high-performance, lowercost platforms, they improve their capacity to handle a fast-rising "look-to-book" ratio;
that is, the total number of shopping transactions compared to actual purchases. The

ratio has increased over time as Internet bots search GDSs more frequently and
consumers compare offers more often before buying.

The declining cost of modern server hardware and the relatively recent introduction of
automated pricing, shopping, and booking software has allowed many airlines to shift
significant buying volume to their own websites, thereby avoiding GDS distribution fees
of $4 or more per flight segment. (The average flight consists of 2.5 segments.)

It remains uncommon for a travel agency to operate without the use of at least one of
the four major GDSs. Meanwhile, the GDS companies have developed their own Web
interfaces, and now sell their services directly to consumers through sites such as
Expedia (formerly owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp, but now spun off into a separate
company called "Expedia Inc."), Travelocity (owned by SABRE), and Orbitz (formerly
owned by Cendant, which is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Blackstone called
Travelport). Further competition exists in the form of newcomers to the business such as
ITA Software.

Today, each system allows an operator to locate and reserve inventory (for instance, an
airline seat on a particular route at a particular time), find and process fares/prices
applicable to the inventory (Revenue management, Variable pricing and Geo
(marketing)), generate tickets and travel documents, and generate reports on the
transactions for accounting or marketing purposes.

L O YA LT Y P R O G R A M
Introduction
A frequent flyer program is a purchase incentive plan, which rewards the
traveler with a free flight or other perk (or the promise of a free flight or other
perk) for repeat patronage of the services of a particular airline company.
The frequent flyer or loyalty programs are designed to establish and retain customer
loyalty by providing incentives to fly on Airlines. Members earn miles when they fly, stay
at a hotel, rent a car, make a long-distance phone call, shop or invest online.
Objective
The main goal of the frequent flyer program for airlines is to develop and sustain solid
relationships with their customers. Frequent flyer or loyalty program simplification
includes a collection of projects and enhancements that impact customer facing and
internal Mileage Plus applications. These enhancements are designed to meet multiple
objectives. These objectives include:
1. Increase active membership and engagement in the frequent flyer program

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Generate incremental revenue from members

Drive channel shift and increase member usage of airline website over other channels
Simplify and streamline the members experience and interactions with airlines
Address and meet legal requirements
Establish a scalable platform and foundation that flexibly supports frequent flyer
initiatives
7. Retain frequent flyer membership levels

Passenger Name Records i.e. PNR

A Passenger Name Record (PNR) is a record stored in the database of an airlines
Computer Reservation System (CRS) or in a Global distribution System, such as Amadeus
or Saber. A PNR contains the travel information for a passenger or a group of passengers
travelling together. Some countries e.g. the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand
require airlines to send them some of this PNR data for security reasons before the
passenger(s) reach their territories.
Before the booking can be completed, the PNR needs to contain a minimum set of data:

PNR record locator

Travel agency or Airline office identification
Date of the reservation
Name of the passenger(s)
The travel itinerary for this specific PNR: flight number, date, departure and arrival
Phone Field

PNR Creation
For PNR creation the data that may be included to respond to customers requests, such
as:

Ticketing information
The fare details, including any restrictions that may apply to the ticket,
The form of payment used,
Any further contact details, such as phone contact numbers at their home address
or business address
Any specific service information (SSR) relevant to the travel (e.g. unaccompanied
minors, or elderly passengers requiring assistance, special meals, seating request
or health information needed for assistance).
There are also 'open text' fields where the travel agent and/or the airlines may enter
additional information about a passenger's tastes and preferences not covered by the
SSR fields.
PNR Modification (Automatic or Manual)
Any change in the PNR is called as PNR modification. For e.g. removing a particular SSR
like Meal request which was earlier made during booking.
PNR Display (including PNR History database)
For every PNR, the GDS-System stores historical information. This is a record of the
creation of the PNR and any additions, modifications, and cancellation that are made to
it. The PNR history provides the user with an easy method of determining when, or if,
changes occurred to a PNR element. Furthermore, it allows looking up who actually made
these changes and by whom they have been requested.

The PNR history contains most of the original PNR elements and any modifications,
additions, cancellations, and deletions made to the PNR.
PNR Purging
This means the deletion of PNR after a particular time period.
Fares & Ticketing
An airfare is the price a passenger pays in order to travel by air. The types of fares, rules
and restrictions, taxes, etc., are all components that complicate the price involved for a
passenger to fly from one place to another.
Fares are most often based on one-way or round-trip travel. Fares may be published,
unpublished
and/or
negotiated
fares
(corporations,
or
government
agencies/organizations may have fares negotiated with an airline at a lower rate).
Unpublished fares are also known as consolidated fares and are offered by consolidators
and bucket shops.
Published fares
A published fare is one that is available for purchase by anyone. The rules of such fares
are readily available and if there is more than one airline offering the same fare one can
count on the rules being virtually the same. A non-refundable fare requiring an advance
purchase of 14 days and a minimum Saturday night stay would be just a few of the
possible rules of a published fare. Seat sales launched by airlines are considered
published fares as well since (subject to seat availability) such airfares are offered to the
public.
Unpublished fares
Unpublished fares are entirely different. They may be seats that a consolidator purchased
and can offer at highly discounted rates. The fare rules could literally contain anything
from absolutely no changes allowed to free changes as long as availability exists. They
may or may not allow for advance seat selection or the accumulation of frequent flyer
miles. They are not offered for sale by the airline online or over the phone with the
airline.
When booking a ticket, regardless of whether it is using a published or unpublished fare,
there are letters that are assigned to different fares. These letters indicate the class of
service, not simply indicating economy or business class, but rather the type of fare that
was purchased. Without getting into the particular rules of each fare type, letters are
assigned by the airlines to indicate the kind of ticket that has been purchased.
F, P are the letters most commonly used to indicate First Class.
J, C are the letters most often used to represent Business, or Executive Class.
Y is almost universally used to indicate a full fare economy ticket.
B, H, L, M, V, etc. are just some of the letters indicating subclasses (reduced, restricted,
and/or discounted fares). These letters vary by airline and in value. On one airline B may
be indicative of a more expensive ticket. On another airline L may represent a ticket
booked on a seat sale.
X, U, R are a few of the letters commonly used to indicate a fare purchased from a
consolidator.
There are two types of tickets , namely the paper ticket and the electronic ticket (also
known as ticket-less travel).

Paper tickets
Paper tickets are so named because the flight coupons (the pieces of paper that contain
the exact flight information and are labeled as flight coupons) are in paper form. A paper
ticket is generally only good on the airline for which it was purchased. However, an
airline can endorse the ticket so that it may be accepted by other airlines, sometimes on
standby basis or with a confirmed seat. Usually the paper ticket is for a specific flight. It
is also possible to purchase an 'open' ticket which allows travel on any flight between the
destinations listed on the ticket. The cost for doing this is greater than a ticket for a
specific flight. Some tickets are refundable. However the lower cost tickets are usually
not refundable and may carry many additional restrictions.
A ticket is made up of one or more flight coupons. These flight coupons are the actual
tickets that are used for travel. One flight coupon is used for each leg of the flight. The
carrier is represented by a standardized 2-letter code. For example Thai Airways is TG.
Only one person can use a ticket. If multiple people are traveling together, the tickets are
linked together by the same record locator or reservation number which are assigned if
the tickets were purchased at the same time. If not, most airlines can connect the tickets
together in their reservation system. This allows all members in a party to be processed
in a group allowing seat assignments to be together (if available at the time of the
assignment). Many airlines no longer issue paper tickets. IATA has announced that as of
June 1, 2008, airlines will no longer issue any paper tickets.
E- Ticket
An e-ticket carries the same information as a paper ticket. The major difference is an eticket is located in an airline's computer database, instead of the passenger's suitcase. It
is an electronic record of the traveler's airline reservation, containing information such as
the time, date and place of the flight, airport, seat assignment and travel class. At the
gate, e-ticket passengers need only show a valid photo identification card such as a
driver's license to claim their spot on the aircraft. Once the airline confirms the traveler's
information, it issues a boarding pass that the traveler uses to board the plane.
Traditional travel companies, such as airlines or travel agencies, can assist travelers with
obtaining e-tickets. But improving Internet technology also allows passengers to book
their flights on their own. In fact, the passenger who uses this self-serve option may not
even come into contact with the airline until arriving at the airport and presenting his ID.
To issue e-tickets, airlines must have a database that is integrated with an airline's
passenger service system. That is then connected to all other partners -- airlines,
airports, ground transportation and travel agencies, for instance -- to share real time
information.
To book themselves on a flight, travelers can visit any number of Web-based ticketing
sites. Once there, they can view the options available and use a credit or debit card to
pay for their ticket. After placing the order, the electronic record of the ticket goes into
the airline's database, where it holds the passenger's spot.
E-tickets are very popular because they allow extra services like:

Online/telephone/self-service kiosk check-in

Early check-in

Printing boarding passes at airport kiosks and at locations other than an airport

Automated refunds and exchanges online, by telephone and at kiosks

Several web sites exist to help people holding e-tickets accomplish online check-ins in
advance of the twenty-four-hour airline restriction. These sites store a passenger's flight
information and then when the airline opens up for online check-in the data is transferred
to the airline and the boarding pass is emailed back to the customer.
Seat Reservation
Airline seats are chairs on an airliner in which passengers are accommodated for the
duration of the journey. An airplane seat map or seating chart, is a diagram of the seat
layout inside a passenger aircraft. They are often published by the airliners for
informational purposes, and are of use to passengers who can select their seat at
booking or check-in.
Seat maps usually indicate the basic seating layout, the numbering and lettering of the
seats, the location of the emergency exits, lavatories, galleys, bulkheads and wings.
Airlines which allow internet check-in frequently present a seat map indicating free and
occupied seats to the passenger so that they select their seat from it.

Advance Seat Reservation (Generic Seat or Specific Seat Selection)

The airlines provide the advance seat reservation facility to passengers through airlines
websites. The passengers can select window or aisle seats depending upon the
availability. If there is any specific requirement like the passenger is travelling along with
the infant then the passenger can choose the seat with the bassinet.
Seat Waitlisting
If seat map of the airline website shows unavailability of seats during the time of booking
then the passenger can be shown the message of seat waitlisted.

United Airlines Airbus A320 Seat Map

This section provides information on key airline organizations:

IATA (International Air Transport Association)www.iata.org

Air transport is one of the most dynamic industries in the world. The International Air
Transport Association (IATA) is its global trade organization.
Over 60 years, IATA has developed the commercial standards that built a global industry.
Today, IATAs mission is to represent, lead and serve the airline industry. Its
members comprise about 250 airlines - the worlds leading passenger and cargo airlines
among them - representing 94 percent of international scheduled air traffic.

For consumers, IATA simplifies the travel and shipping processes, while keeping
costs down. Passengers can make one telephone call to reserve a ticket, pay in one
currency and then use the ticket on several airlines in several countries.

IATA allows airlines to operate safely, securely, efficiently and economically under
clearly defined rules.

IATA serves as an intermediary between airlines and passenger as well as cargo

agents via neutrally applied agency service standards and centralized financial
systems.

A large network of industry suppliers and service providers gathered by IATA

provides solid expertise to airlines in a variety of industry solutions.

For governments, IATA seeks to ensure they are well informed about the
complexities of the aviation industry to ensure better, long-term decisions.

ATA (Air Transport Association)www.airlines.org

Air Transport Association (ATA) is the premier trade organization of the principal
U.S. airlines (i.e. US domestic carriers). ATA airline members and their affiliates
transport more than 90 percent of all U.S. airline passenger and cargo traffic.

OAG (Official Airline Guide)www.oag.com

OAG is a global flight information and data solutions company for the passenger aviation,
air cargo logistics and business travel markets. It brings together buyers and sellers of air
travel and transport through the management and distribution of airline product
information; the supply of corporate travel planning tools; and the promotion of travel
and transport products.
OAG is part of Commonwealth Business Media (CBM) a wholly owned subsidiary of United
Business Media plc. It operates globally in three vertical sectors: Aviation Services, Cargo
Services and Travel Services, and incorporates the specialist knowledge and expertise of
CBMs other leading aviation brand, BACK Aviation Solutions (www.backaviation.com).
OAGs business is underpinned by its data management expertise. It holds a breadth of
travel related content and is best known for its airline schedules database. This holds
future and historical flight details for 1,000 airlines and more than 3,500 airports. Every
ten seconds a flight is updated on the OAG system. Over the coming year it will track
around 28 million departures.
Using these vast databases, OAG provides a suite of solutions for managing, distributing,
displaying and analysing passenger and cargo flight data. These include data files;
internet timetables; flight analysis tools; flight status displays and SMS alert services for
airports, airlines and travel-related web sites.
OAG-branded consumer products include the worlds most comprehensive and up-to-date
online flight search service, OAG Flights; itinerary building tools OAG Travel & Flight
Planners; printed reference products such as the OAG Executive Flight Guide and a
wealth of useful travel related information via the oag.com web site.
In the cargo area additional services include the Inforwarding air freight community
portal for information exchange and messaging services between airlines and freight
forwarders; and the Air Freight Rates (AFRA) database.

ATPCO (Air Tariff Publishing Company)www.atpco.net

Airline Tariff Publishing Company (ATPCO) is an external governing agency for collection
and distribution of fares and fare-related data for the airline and travel industry. It offers
travel
data services and solutions, including revenue accounting and decision support systems.
Different airlines publish their fares in ATPCO, which in turn shares it with GDS.