PROFESSIONAL REPORT

MIS 205 (Sec 08)

Submitted to-

Mr. NAIM A. DEWAN (NAD)

Submitted by-

Nazia Hossain 0910232030

Shuchismita Das 0910830030

Submitted on-

17th November, 2009

North South University

Fall 2009

1

ONLINE TICKETING

SYSTEM

&

Contents Page no.

2

1. Introduction of British Airways 4

2. Background history of British Airways 4

3. Problems faced by British Airways 4

4. Success of British Airways 5

5. What is online ticketing system? 6

6. Background history of e-ticketing 6

7. How it works? 6-7

8. Initial costing of implementation 7

9. Advantages (for customers & airlines) 8-9

10. Disadvantages (for customers & airlines) 9-10

11. Future of online ticketing system 10

12. Current ticket booking system in Bangladesh 11

13. Problems in current booking system in Bangladesh 11

14. Implementing e-ticketing in Bangladesh 12

15. Obstacles that may be faced 12-13

16. Overcoming the obstacles 13

17. Expected success after implementation 13-14

18. Conclusion 14

19. References 15

20. Appendix 16-19

Introduction of British Airways

3

British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is the

largest UK based airline service to over 140 destinations worldwide. It is

headquartered in Waterside, London. It has two hubs. Its main hub is at the London

Heathrow Airport which is very near to it’s headquarter. The second hub is at the

London Gatwick Airport. British Airways is a founding member of the one world

alliance, which offers connections to more than 600 destinations worldwide. The

current CEO of British Airways is Mr. Willie Walsh.

Background history of British Airways

British Airways was formed from two large London based airlines BOAC &

BEA and two much smaller regional airlines Cambrian Airways Cardiff & Northeast

Airlines Newcastle Upon Tyne on 31 March,1974. Then in February, 1987, almost 13

years later, British Airways was privatized. BA started online ticketing system at early

1990s. Until 2008, BA was the largest airline of UK, measured by passenger numbers.

In 2008, BA carried 35.7 million passengers. On 31 March, 2009 British Airways

celebrated its 35th anniversary.

Problems faced by British Airways

High initial cost- The main problem that BA faced while implementing e-

ticketing was the high initial cost if setting up the system. At that time their

initial cost was more than $350 million (approx.).

Low response at the beginning- As BA started e-ticketing at the early 1990s,

this technology was not very much familiar to the passengers at that time. So,

they received a low response at the beginning years. But with the passage of

time, it has changed & now they are the largest airline of UK measured by

passenger numbers.

Training the employees- As the employees of BA were not known to this new

technology at that time, they had to train their employees for this system.

Virus attacks- In early 1990s when BA adopted e-ticketing, the antivirus

software & the security system of internet were not as advanced as now. So,

they had to face lots of severe problems because of virus attacks.

System shortcomings- The internet connections & the whole networking

system were not enough advanced at that time. For this reason, BA faced some

system shortcoming problems.

Success achieved by British Airways

4

Increase in customers & revenue –After starting e-ticketing both number of

customers & the revenue of British Airways increased at a large rate. (See

appendix 1& 2)

No need of intermediaries- As British Airways started e-ticketing through

their own website, they didn’t need any intermediaries like travel agents/ticket

distribution agents.

Easy to record & maintain the database- E-ticketing is done through online

totally & all the information are stored using the Computer Reservation

System (CRS). As a result, BA could record & maintain the database more

easily after adopting e-ticketing.

Cost cutting- As the whole system is computer based, BA needed less

employees than before & also needed to pay less salary. Another thing is that,

as there were no intermediaries, BA need not to share their revenue with

anyone.

Huge popularity- Because of e-ticketing British Airways became more

popular to the passengers as the services improved a lot & customers were

more satisfied than before. (See appendix 1)

5

What is online ticketing system?

An e-ticket (electronic ticket)/online ticket is a paperless electronic document

used for ticketing in airlines, railways, cultural events etc. and the system which is

used for this is called e-ticketing/online ticketing system. Online ticketing system is

the combination of selling, buying and issuing tickets using the internet. In this

system, customers can purchase tickets with cash, cheques or credit/debit cards. This

system is mostly used in the commercial airline industry. Virtually all major airlines

now use this method of ticketing.

Background history

Airlines first started using electronic ticketing since the early 1990s, and

although customers had the option of requiring a paper ticket without any additional

charge back then, most people simply follow through the airlines' e-ticket

transformation. United Airlines first started using e-tickets in domestic flights in

November 1994. By 1994, as reported by United Airlines, e-tickets already spanned

over sixty percent of its sales. In 1996, Semi-Automated Business Research

Environment (Sabre) launched Travelocity.com, first major comprehensive Internet

Travel Site. By November 1997, United Airlines extended this to international flights

to England. By December 2003, most domestic airlines such as Delta Airlines and

Northwest Airlines had claimed to stop issuing paper tickets completely. International

Air Transport Association (IATA), in 2004, had announced its goal of eliminating

paper tickets by December 1, 2007. Now, most airlines ask for an additional charge

for printed-paper tickets. Because when fewer paper tickets are used, the cost for each

ticket goes up for the company. Thus, the growth in use of e-tickets is jumping up

very quickly.

How it works?

E-tickets are transacted through ticketing models provided by The Central

Reservation System (CRS), a provider that record and control most air travel

transactions. An automatic e-process is used, written in middleware such as Perl or

Java. It is the IATA, International Air Transport Association, that gave permission for

traveling agents to sale tickets without issuing paper ticket (they transmit purchase

information directly to the intended airline's database), and for travelers to board

without providing paper ticket proof. When a passenger buys a ticket online, he/she is

usually buying an e-ticket. Airline and travel agency sites walk him through the

6

purchase process and after he has selected his flight online, he is prompted to pay with

a credit or debit card. The screen then shows him his payment confirmation receipt,

his ticket number and his itinerary. The e-ticket is may be e-mailed to him with an

itinerary confirmation which he can print out, especially if he has gone through a

travel agency, or he may be mailed an e-ticket confirmation and a link to the airline's

website, where he can view and print the e-ticket itself and itinerary. A passenger's

reservation of the flight is stored in the airline's computer database. Therefore, when

he or she arrives at the airport, he/she only needs to provide a valid photo

identification such as a driver's license or passport (sometimes airlines demand credit

card of purchase also) in order to receive the boarding pass. (See appendix 3)

Passengers select flight from the site

↓

Purchase with debit/credit card online

↓

Screen shows payment info & ticket number

↓

Send e-mail with confirmation

↓

Show valid photo identification at the airport

↓

Receive boarding pass & ready to fly

Initial costing for implementation

American Airlines invested more than $350 million at the beginning with $40

million for initial development. By comparison, a new jet cost $4.5 million during this

time period. The immediate impact was a reduction in the reservation error rate to less

than 1%, and a 30% savings on investment in personnel. After investing $250 million

in system development, United Airlines entered the online CRS market in 1997.

7

Advantages

For Customer

Cheap & easy to pay -It is cheaper & easy than any other booking system.

One can pay by direct debit up to 9 days before departure.

Anytime & Emergency booking facility- One can search for and book flights

24 hours a day, 7 days a week. One can book his flight anytime up to 3 hours

before takeoff. Even for departures within the next 3 days, one can book

without a credit card and simply pay his ticket at the airport before his

departure.

Easy to find- The remaining availability of the seats is clearly shown on the

seating plan. One can book his preferred seat by simply clicking on the seat.

(See appendix 4)

Safe- As credit card payments are encrypted, there is a complete protection of

the customer’s data.

Comfortable & less time consuming- One can book from his own home or

office which is not only comfortable but also less time consuming than going

to the airline’s office and booking the ticket.

Customer services & Extra services- One can call/send an e-mail to the

airline’s Internet Helpdesk for any enquiry. Even if there are any changes in

the departure schedule or anything else, the passenger is informed by e-mail

during the week leading up to his departure. Sometimes some extra services

like booking hotels & rental cars online at low cost are also offered.

Convenience of traveling- Paper tickets can be lost, stolen or destroyed, while

an e-ticket has no risk of these problems.

For Airlines

Huge revenue- After adopting this technology, the revenue of the airlines

increases at a huge rate than before.

Less labor, less expense- As all the task of the booking agents & purchase

department are done by the computer & the internet, airlines need less

employees as well as less money for their salary.

Benefits direct sales over costly intermediaries- As the whole system

connects the customers & the airlines, there is no need of costly intermediaries

like travel agents etc.

8

Eliminates paper ticket production cost- Customers are provided with e-

tickets. So, the production cost of paper tickets eliminates automatically.

Reduce check-in time & data entry redundancy- All the transactions &

booking tasks are done online which reduces both check-in time & data entry

redundancy.

No over booking problem- Sometimes travel agents sells more tickets than

the number of seats available. This situation is known as over booking. But in

e-ticketing system, availability of seats is clearly visible at the website, so

there is no over booking problem.

Simplifies modification & refunds- As all the information are organized &

stored by the Computer Reservation System (CRS), it simplifies both

modification & refunding procedure.

Disadvantages

For Customers

No live help- Customers do not get any live person’s help. For any enquiry,

they have to contact the airline’s Internet Help Desk through an e-mail.

No advantage of personal relationships- Customers can not build up/take

advantage of personal relationships with the operator while booking online.

No special requests- Customers can not confirm any special requests like

requesting a wheelchair or adding an infant to his ticket.

System failure- If there is any problem in the CRS system or the website is

down, no one is able to book online.

Risk in insecure websites- Viruses/Trojans attacks online can steal the

customer’s information if he/she books through an insecure website.

For Airlines

Uncertainty- As e-ticketing is totally new & different from the traditional

booking system, there remains a huge uncertainty for the airlines whether the

customers will accept this or not.

Supporting update process- It becomes really very difficult for the airlines to

support the update process like informing all the passengers about the last

minute schedule changes etc.

9

Display of legal information- Though the airlines have to display their legal

information to proof their honesty, sometimes these information are hacked &

the airline is harmed.

Verifying customer identification- Sometimes customers try to fraud or use

other people’s tickets. At that time verifying the actual customer’s

identification becomes difficult as there is no paper document for proof.

Thread of fraud- There is threat of fraud in terms of unauthorized issuance of

e-tickets & fraudulent payment via credit card.

Virus attacks -Sometimes the whole system becomes destroyed/hanged

because of several virus attacks trough online.

Future of online ticketing

Mobile ticketing- In this system customer will just need to type his

destination, current living city, credit/debit card number, day of departure etc.

& send a sms to the airline’s provided number using his own mobile & within

about half an hour he/she will receive a reply with the confirmation of his

booking, ticket number, departure time & all other information.

Self check-in -Customers will be able to check-in theirselves not only in

airport but also online.

Online boarding pass- Customers will be provided with online boarding

passes along with the e-tickets.

Extra features -Customers will receive more extra features such as- adding an

infant to his ticket, special requests etc.

Current ticket booking system in Bangladesh

Booking through travel agencies- Currently most of the customer book their

tickets through travel agencies. It is easier than booking through the airlines

10

office, but it causes trouble for the passengers, as it is not trustworthy in case

of getting the tickets at time or getting the desire seats.

Booking from the airlines office- Passengers also can book their tickets from

the airline’s office. It is a long procedure, as the passengers need to show

every tiny detail of the required documents through an analytical process.

Nevertheless, it guarantees the desire seat and the tickets right on time.

Problems in current ticket booking system in Bangladesh

Wastage of time & money- Passengers need to go to the airline’s or travel

agencies offices & have to stand in a long queue for getting the tickets, which

is really very much time consuming & also a waste of money.

Corruption & taking bribes- Passengers need to persuade to get their tickets

on time, which actually is the duty of the officials. Sometimes, passengers

need to bribe the officials to get the tickets on time or to hold the desire seat.

Harassment- Travel agencies harass the passengers with the tickets frequently.

Mostly, they fail to deliver the tickets in time. Sometimes, they do it

intentionally so that the passengers bribe them for the tickets.

Floating tickets- Sometimes, when the numbers of customers were not enough

for one flight, two or more airlines arrange the whole thing in a different way.

They combine their passengers for a single flight and give an announcement of

collecting floating tickets, a ticket that would give access to all passengers to

board on a single flight. As a result, passengers get confused about which

flight to take.

Over booking- Over booking is a practice of selling more tickets than the

number of seats available, which is very common in our country.

No updating facility- The updating facility for the passengers is almost absent

in our country. Passengers could hardly get any information about their flight

in time.

Implementing e-ticketing in Bangladesh

11

Approval from the government- First, we need to go through the file works

to make a proposal and then follow the procedure to get the approval of the

government.

Advancing hard wares, soft wares & internet connections- We have to

equip ourselves with modern hardware and software. We should introduce

new hardware and software system. In addition, we need stronger internet

connection for implementing this technology.

Publicity- We have to make people aware of this new service, about the

technology and the benefits of it, how to use it and what good it will do to our

economy.

Offering better rate, better service- We have to keep the service charge

reasonable and provide more efficient service than it is now.

Obstacles that may be faced

Economic

Huge initial cost- The initial cost of implementing will be huge; too much for

a poor country like Bangladesh. When this technology was introduced in

U.S.A. airlines service, it cost them $6.2 billion for initial setup only.

High risk- There lays a high risk of loss as public may not accept this new

system at first; as they will prefer to use the traditional system, which is,

familiar to them.

Technical

Lack of trained employees- Our employees are not trained enough to run this

technology successfully.

Less internet users- Still, most of the people in our country do not know how

to work with internet. In rural areas, people still hold a grudge against using

internet.

Poor condition of network connections- The speed of internet connection is

very low and the network is weak in our country.

12

Long-term process- The whole process of implementation like approval from

the government, gathering fund, publicity, set up new hardware etc. is a long-

term process.

Problems in the check-in system- With the implementation of this new

technology, the check-in system will also be changed.

Overcoming the obstacles

Economic

Help of the government- Government should step forward to take initiatives

for this project.

Foreign helps- We will need foreign help to implement this project

successfully; both technically and economically.

Technical

Training the employees- We have to train the employees so that they can run

the system effectively.

Improve network connections- We have to improve the network and the

speed of the internet.

Encouraging people about using internet- We have to encourage people

about using internet, teach them how to use it, how to work with it.

Publicity- We will need the help of mass media to make people aware of this

new technology, how it works and the benefit of it.

Expected success after implementation

More profit & customers- It is a time and money saver to the passengers.

Therefore, they will be more willing to use it and in this way thousands of

customers will be able to book their tickets at a time. It means more customers

and higher revenue.

Better service- As the whole system is computerized, it will be faster and the

service will be better.

Technologically advanced- Bangladesh airline service will be more advanced

technologically.

Less corruption & less harassment- As the whole process will be technical; it

will be free form corruption and harassment largely.

Goodwill- It will have a positive influence upon the reputation of the airline

service of Bangladesh.

13

More security- It will be more secured booking system than the current

system in case as all the records will be kept and checked by computer.

Time & cost saving- Customers will be able to book their tickets through

internet. Therefore, it will save their money and time.

Conclusion

E-ticketing is an extremely fast-paced e-business transformation. Although it

was seemed a daunting task at the beginning, now it is certainly reasonable. Now it

has become a universal ticketing system which is used by almost all the airlines

around the whole world.

14

References

Internet Addresses

1. “Advantages online booking. Why should I book online?” [Online] Available http://www.aua.com/uk/eng/flights/advantages/ , October 11, 20092. “Airline Profile: British Airways” [Online] Available http://www.britishairways.com/ , October 22, 20093. “Airline Reservations” [Online] Available http://www.bookrags.com/research/airline-reservations-csci-03/, October30, 20094. “British Airways” [Online] Available http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British-Airways , November 02, 20095. Crislip, Kathleen. “How to Get and Use E-tickets” [Online] Available http://studenttravel.about.com/od/planyourtrip/qt/etickets.htm , October 22, 20096. “Disadvantages of Booking Domestic Airfare Tickets Online” [Online] Available http://www.flash-courier.com/disadvantages-domestic-airfare-tickets-online.html , October 11, 20097. “E-ticket. The ticket you can’t lose” [Online] Available http://www.britishairways.com/e-ticket.htm, October 22, 20098. Kay, Malcolm. “Online Ticket Sales Brings Many Benefits” [Online] Available http://www.ideamarketers.com/?online_ticketing_system&articleid=748195 , October 12, 20099. Morelock, Jessica. “The Disadvantages of Booking Online” [Online] Available http://www.trails.com/facts_9851_disadvantages_booking_online.html , October 11, 200910.“OnlineTicketSales”[Online]Available http://hollmanmedia.com/index.php?page_id=r7xxc9y9&description=Online_Ticket_Sales , October 12, 200911.“Online Ticketing Questions and Answers” [Online] Available http://www.kingston.gov.uk/browse/leisure/eticketing/eticketing_guidance.htm , October 22, 200912. “Timeline of British Airways” [Online] Available http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_British_Airways , October 27, 200913. “What are the advantages/disadvantages of booking tickets online?” [Online] Available http://answers,yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081207031326AAOgL6h , October 11, 200914. “What is e-ticket?-Definition from Whatis.com-see also: electronic ticket” [Online]Available http://searchciomidmarket.techtarget.com/sDefinition/O,,sid183_gci780616,00.html , October 22, 2009

Books

Laudon, K.C & Laudon, J.P. Management Information Systems. New Delhi: Prentice-hall of India Private Limited, 2004, page: 511-520

15

Appendix 1

0

5,000,000

10,000,000

15,000,000

20,000,000

25,000,000

30,000,000

35,000,000

40,000,000

45,000,000

Passengers Flown

31-Mar-08

31-Mar-07

31 March 2006 (Restated)*

31-Mar-06

31-Mar-05

31-Mar-04

31-Mar-03

31-Mar-02

31-Mar-01

31-Mar-00

31-Mar-99

31-Mar-98

31-Mar-97

31-Mar-96

16

Appendix 2

-200

-100

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Net Profit/Loss (£m)

31-Mar-08

31-Mar-07

31 March 2006 (Restated)*

31-Mar-06

31-Mar-05

31-Mar-04

31-Mar-03

31-Mar-02

31-Mar-01

31-Mar-00

31-Mar-99

31-Mar-98

31-Mar-97

31-Mar-96

17

Appendix 3

18

Appendix 4

19