JAYPEE INSTITUTE OF

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Summer Internship Report

Airline Ticket Booking System Analysis

AIR INDIA GANDHARV BHAGAT

MR. MUKESH SAREEN IT

(DY. GENERAL MANAGER (IT)) 12104746

JUNE 2015-JULY 2015

COMPANY BACKGROUND

Air India is a state-owned flag carrier, the oldest and the largest airline of India. It is a part of the Indian government-owned Air India Limited (AIL) which is renamed as Air India Ltd. The airline operates a fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft serving Asia, Australia, Europe and North America. Its corporate office is located at the Air India Building at Nariman Point in South Mumbai. It is the 16th largest airline in Asia. Air India has two major domestic hubs at Indira Gandhi International Airport and Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. An international hub at Dubai International Airport is currently being planned.

Some six decades ago in August 1953, the Indian air transport industry was nationalised to provide safe, smooth and economic air travel to the people. It involved eight warring airlines with different work cultures, horrendous safety record, disastrous financial conditions because of cut-throat competition and inefficient management in some.Thus come into existence Indian Airlines Corp and Air India Ltd to operate domestic and international long haul services. The nationalisation was also expected to spur growth, promote economic activity, rush assistance in times of natural calamities like flood, famine and earthquake, foster national integration and, above all, serve as the second line of defence in the event of war with another country.

It must be conceded that the nationalised airlines fulfilled most of the expectations of the nation, particularly at times of natural calamities and during the wars with China and Pakistan. These apart, bringing remote places of the country into the mainstream by connecting them with air service need not be told.

Air India is the 16th largest airline in Asia, serving 25 destinations worldwide, and, with its affiliated carriers, serves over 100 cities. Air India has code share agreements with twelve other international airlines. In 2010, Air India is expected to join Star Alliance, the world's largest airline alliance.

CORPORATE VISION

Vision

To be among top five Asian airlines in terms of Yield, Profitability, Productivity, Size and Quality

Mission

Focus on customer satisfaction Grow with emphasis on sustained profitability Provide exciting and satisfying work environment to retain and develop employees

committed to Corporate Vision Focus on social responsibility – environment & community

Objectives

Achieve unit revenue, unit cost, profitability, productivity and service level targets, based on benchmarked parameters

EXISTING SYSTEM FOR AIR INDIA

For its Reservations and Departure Control requirements, Air-India uses Unisys Computer Mainframes with proprietary USAS software. The reservation system besides being connected to Air India’s booking and ticketing offices all over the world using its closed user group domestic network and SITA’s international network is also connected with the Departure Control System through a WAN connection using UDLC and Frame Relay protocols. These mainframe systems are also linked with the computer systems of various airlines worldwide using host to host links through SITA network For this Air India has its own communications network in India and the communications requirement at foreign stations have been outsourced. Air-India has also invested extensively on the terminal equipment at Indian and foreign stations for its use. The Reservation System has real time links with other computer reservation systems such as SABRE, GALILEO, AMADEUS, ABACUS etc. The system also provides additional services like frequent flyer programme, code-sharing, CRS booking by travel agents, Advanced seat reservations, internet bookings etc. The departure control system is hosted on Unisys Clear-Path System IX6600 Series of mainframe hardware with software packages for passenger checking and load planning. The departure control system provides airport passenger handling and load planning support to its own flights and the flights of other carriers handled by Air India at various airports in India. In addition, the system permits the handling of Air India flights at JFK Airport, New York and Dammam Airports in Saudi Arabia using the SITA network. The main role of Air India’s DCS activities at present include as an airline handling own flights, handling agents of other airlines and handling all flights at Cochin Airport. Air India conforms to Article 9 of ICAO code of conduct for the regulation and operation of CRS. Air India’s reservation system also conforms to the IATA standards with regard to Airlines reservations interline message procedures.

Similarly, Indian Airlines uses two IBM Mainframe systems, which are configured with redundant configuration with full disaster recovery for its Reservation and Departure control requirements. The system fully supports the electronic data exchange between different airlines systems using real time EDIFACT protocols for both Reservation and Departure Control as per IATA standards. The Reservation system has real time links with other Global Distributions Systems (GDS) like Sabre, Galileo, Abacus, Amadeus, World Span etc. and uses highest level of participation. The Departure Control system has similar real time links with other airline systems like Air France, Emirates, Air India, Kuwait Airways, Gulf Air, Cathay Pacific etc. They have their own network infrastructure in India that facilitates on-line reservation with auto pricing and ticket printing facility at their all International & Domestic booking office locations (80+) and also with their travel agents within the country. Some of the salient features in Indian Airlines Reservation System include Availability & Schedule display, Passenger Name Record, Lists, Air Fares, Auto Pricing, Automated Ticketing, Code Share etc. Indian Airlines also provides value added features in the area of reservation like Advance Seat Reservation, processing of Frequent

Flyer Program points for different airlines (Indian Airlines, Air India, Air France), STAR records for Auto creation of Passenger Name, Contact, FFP Number for PNR, On-line Flight Analysis etc. Indian Airlines has computerized check-in facility available on its network covering more than 75% of the total passengers from 34 locations and can serve any airline at these airports using EDIFACT links or as handled airlines. This system offers value added facilities like through check-in of both Domestic & International Passengers on Indian Airlines and other carrier flights, Tele check-in, City check-in, Return check-in and Boarding Control for flights. The DCS package of Indian Airlines is also used to handle check-in of other airlines by downloading the Passenger List into the Indian Airlines Host. In addition, Indian Airlines Departure Control system also has other standard features like Payload Control, Production of Load Sheets as per IATA standards etc. Indian Airlines in their future plans for enhancing Departure Control activities are examining the SITA CUTE proposal for their Metro locations. Simultaneously, they have planned to enhance the present Departure control by implementing Thermal Bar Coded Bag Tags & Boarding Pass, Automatic Gate Control and Baggage Matching facility at these airports. Additionally, Indian Airlines is maintaining a Data Warehouse for the complete Reservation & Departure Control activities.

Current Ticket Booking Channels for Air India:

Company Website/Travel Desk Online Portals (MakeMyTrip, GoIbibo, Yatra, etc. ) Travel Agents

Currently, about 70% of the total revenue is generated from travel agents, 20% from the

AI office(online/offline) and just 10% from the online portals.

Airlines are moving towards differential pricing so as to promote online portals.

This will help airlines save on sales and distribution costs.

Our prime focus will be based on increasing sales and revenue through the first 2 channels as the company earns better profit via them than from the agents.

PROPOSED MODEL:

Predictive Analysis using Data Analytics tools to transform the Airline industry

Predictive analytics looks at what has happened to date, and applies statistical models to reliably forecast what will happen next. It sounds a little bit like magic, but it’s actually just math. Predictive analytics lets you infer what a person (customer, patient, citizen, employee, etc.) will do in the future based on the information you have about that entire population and what that individual has done before. You can then group people together based on these individual predictions to project what those segments of the population will do in the future.

In comparison, historical analytics focuses on what has happened previously. It lets you track results over time and determine meaningful trends. Historical analytics uses reports, charts, graphs, and other types of data visualizations to make information as accessible as possible. A business can then see which methods have brought the greatest success over time, and then further invest in the most effective methods going forward.

Predictive analytics continue to factor heavily into how prices are set for today’s airlines. Air travel remains a low-profit margin industry and the ability to forecast fluctuations in demand is critical.

Benefits of Predictive Analytics

Historical analytics are critical for making sense of what’s happened to date. But here are some

advantages of incorporating predictive analytics into your business’ decision-making framework,

which can be defined as “The Triple A”:

Agility: Historical analytics requires a certain amount of time to pass in order to derive

meaningful conclusions, so it takes longer to see which strategies are beneficial and which are

failing. Predictive analytics, in contrast, encourages constant testing and iteration as it doesn’t

require as much observation in order to come to a robust conclusion. It gives companies the

agility to try new and different methods and quickly determine how effective they will be going

forward.

Accuracy: The statistical methods used in predictive analytics are built to calculate the

probability of their accuracy. This allows decision makers to be informed of the risks of relying

on a given prediction, as opposed to historical analytics, where it is more of a subjective call as

to how accurate a projection will be.

Dealing with Absent Data: Predictive analytics can be most instructive when there is

insufficient historical data – or when the past is not representative of the future. For example, if a

retailer is expanding into a new acquisition channel or introducing a new product category, it will

not be able to rely on a historical baseline. Predictive analytics would enable it to make decisions

even in the absence of past experience.

To summarize, predictive analytics and historical analytics both attempt to give an organization

insight into what strategies they should pursue going forward. However, predictive analytics

enables organizations to adapt more quickly to changing conditions, pinpoint how likely their

strategies are to succeed in the future, and make decisions even in the absence of historical data.

TECHNOLOGY USED:

CDN(Content Delivery Network) by AKAMAI:

Optimize the web experience for travelers on any device. To deliver a compelling web experience every time, travel companies must understand when and how travelers are using web and mobile devices and networks to search, shop, buy and share. Online brands need a partner to optimize their web experience and ensure that customers are engaged, loyal and transacting. For hundreds of the world’s travel sites, that partner is Akamai. Akamai’s content delivery network (CDN) and cloud services help deliver mobile-optimized websites and applications, enabling a high-quality web experience that helps increase online bookings for connected devices and desktops, build customer loyalty and improve productivity across employees and partners.

Products:

Akamai Web Performance Solutions: Connected audiences expect instant, reliable, secure access to websites and applications – from any device, anywhere. Akamai Web Performance Solutions help you engage consumers with fast, personalized online experiences, enabling you to increase revenue opportunities, gain IT agility and scale globally.

Akamai Media Delivery Solutions: Consumers expect a flawless viewing experience and instant access to high definition video content on any screen. Delivering software updates, games, social media, news and other content must also be seamless, fast and scalable. Akamai Media Delivery Solutions help you engage audiences globally by delivery content at the highest quality wherever and whenever users want — without having to build out costly infrastructure — to scale with the growth and complexity of different connected device types.

Akamai Cloud Security Solutions: Online threats are constantly changing. Offering protection against the largest and most sophisticated attacks, Akamai helps you safeguard your websites and other Internet-facing applications from the risks of downtime and data theft. Built on the Akamai Intelligent Platform, Akamai Cloud Security Solutions provide the scale to stop the largest Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) and web application attacks without reducing performance, as well as intelligence into the latest threats and the expertise to adapt to shifting tactics and attack vectors.

Akamai Cloud Networking Solutions: Business and consumer users expect fast, high-quality application and video experiences, regardless of location or device. Akamai Cloud Networking Solutions help boost enterprise productivity and revenue by

accelerating in-branch applications, reducing enterprise network costs and successfully bringing the Internet and public clouds into the enterprise network.

Akamai Network Operator Solutions: Subscribers expect a broadcast quality experience with engaging video content on any device. Akamai Network Operator Solutions help providers operate a cost-efficient network that capitalizes on traffic growth and new subscriber services by reducing the complexity of building a Content Delivery Network (CDN) and interconnecting it across providers.

Akamai Services & Support Solutions: Akamai's Services & Support team inspires innovation and removes complexity as your online strategies evolve, integrating and deploying solutions with ease and keeping online business running smoothly 24x7. Our Internet experts around the globe are an extension to the enterprise, leveraging more than a decade of experience to provide world-class support, problem resolution and customized service – ensuring optimized online success for all of our customers.

SEGMENTATION AND TARGET MARKET:

Identification of Segments:

Title Segment 1Low Income

Segment 2Moderate Income

Segment 3High Income

Income Low Moderate High

Usage Rate Low Moderate High

Value for Money High High Low/High

Psychographic Segmentation:

Air India has a strong image of an official national carrier. Most of the government officials, bureaucrats including the President and Prime Minister

of India travel by Air India. People who are travelling by Air India since the past few decades are still loyal to it.

Market Segmentation

Demographic Segmentation: (Income Based)

Business Class: Boeing 787 Dreamliner, 18 business class seats Economy Class:Boeing 787 Dreamliner, 238 economy seats

Geographic Segmentation

International Market

Domestic Market

Justification for choosing the segments

Segment1Low Income

Segment1Moderate Income

Segment1High Income

Measurability The current sales in this segment are low. Preferred only in case of emergencies

The sales in this segment is increasing as they now constitute a major share of passengers

This segment constitutes the major portion of business class travel. Sales in this segment in growing

Accessibility Newspapers, Radio, Television

Newspapers, Radio, Television, Online Ads, E-mails, Mobile-ads

Newspapers, Radio, Television, Online-Ads, E-mails, Mobile-ads

Substantiality A major portion of domestic market belongs to low income group

Middle income group in the country is growing

High income group is also growing in the country

Actionability Low fares on advance booking can attract this segment

Low fares and good customer service and in-flight crew service will attract this segment

Customer service, in-flight crew service and Frequent Flyer miles can attract this segment

Target Market Strategy

Air India should follow a Multi-Segment strategy to target different segments.

Marketing Mix 1Low Fares, Economy Class Travel,

Easy ticket booking via travel desk/online, Ads through papers, radio,

TVs

Segment 1

Low Income

Marketing Mix 2Low/Medium Fares, Economy Class

Travel, ticket booking via websites/travel desks/mobiles, Ads

through papers, online media, mobile-ads.

Marketing Mix 3Normal/High Fares, Business/Economy

Class Travel, Ticket-booking via websites/travel desks/mobiles/agents,

Ads through papers, online media, mobile-ads.

Segment 2

Moderate Income

Segment 3

High Income