Comments: IATA's Chief Urges Airlines to Use Technology

Giovanni Bisignani, the director general and CEO of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) says airlines need to adopt five existing technologies to improve customer service and reduce costs.

In a keynote speech delivered on March 11 at Berlin's ITB (International Tourism Exchange), Mr. Bisignani listed these initiatives which are part of IATA's "Simplifying the Business" program:

1. One-hundred percent e-ticketing globally by the end of 2007.
2. Bar-coded boarding passes.
3. Radio frequency identification (RFID) for baggage management.
4. Common use of self service (CUSS) kiosks for passenger check-in.
5. Paperless cargo shipments.

The trick, according to Mr. Bisignani, is to turn what airlines have achieved individually into industry systems. "E-ticketing is our main focus. We ended 2004 with nearly 19% of tickets processed through IATA being E-tickets. By the end of 2005 we will be at 40% and we are confident to meet our 100% target by the end of 2007."

Mr. Bisignani also had some critical things to say about German airports, the rising cost of navigation services, and role of the European Commission on aviation issues – especially the move to penalize airlines for delays and cancellations.

To view Mr. Bisignani’s entire speech, click here.  03-13-2005.

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