Simplifying the business

On 1 June, 2008, electronic ticketing replaced paper ticketing by 100 percent in the International Air Transport Association (IATA) business settlement plans (BSPs). The cost savings are estimated to be US$ 3 billion per year, plus the equivalent of two square miles of forest.

This landmark event came just four years after IATA launched its "Simplifying the Business" initiative – which also resulted in a return to profitability in 2007 following six straight years of significant losses (2001-06).

But what now? What progress has been made? What lessons have we learned?

What next for Simplifying the Business?

Despite the achievements above, much more remains to be done. New challenges continue to present themselves.

Financial pressures

Diminishing traffic growth
Rising oil prices
Restrictions in building new airport capacity

Customer expectations

People want more self-service
People want to use their mobile devices

Fortunately, new opportunities continue to be identified. Current and ongoing developments across the air transport industry (ATI) include:

Bar-coded boarding passes (BCBP) – makes use of IATA industry standard (PDF417) enabling use in interline journeys
IATA e-freight – a joint air cargo industry programme, aiming to eliminate the transport of paper documents for air cargo shipments
Common use self-service (CUSS) – multiple airlines sharing one self-service kiosk, saving US$ 2.50 per check-in
Radio frequency identification (RFID) – embedding RFID chips in baggage tags could save US$ 100 per mishandled bag
New: Baggage improvement programme (BIP) – collaborative framework for airports and airlines to identify and address baggage handling problems
New: Fast Travel – offering greater passenger choice through self-service options

SITA's role in Simplying the Business

As an IATA Preferred Partner, we help implement innovative solutions across seven focus areas:

Electronic ticketing (ET)
Bar-coded boarding passes (BCBP)
IATA e-freight
Common use self-service (CUSS)
Radio frequency identification (RFID for aviation)
Baggage improvement programme (BIP)
Fast travel

History of Simplifying the Business

IATA established Simplifying the Business in 2004 to reduce ATI costs and improve customer service for travellers.

Simplifying the Business achieves these goals by:

Simplifying the traditional carrier model
Reducing costs
Increasing competitiveness
Reducing complexity
Improving customer services

The common denominator for each of the above was technology. But they were not information technology (IT) projects – instead, they used IT to address commercial issues.

Simplifying the Business has been a four-stage process:

Mobilize
Facilitate
Support
Guide

Integral to each of these stages are:

Knowledge-sharing
Market intelligence
Preferred Partners helping with implementation
Close consultation, including the use of a peer system