Computer reservation system

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 GDSes typically allow users to book hotel rooms and rental cars as well as airline tickets.

History

In the early days of American commercial aviation, passengers were relatively few, and each airline's routes and fares were tightly regulated by the Civil Aeronautics Board. These were published in a volume entitled The Official Airline Guide, from which travel agents or consumers could construct an itinerary, then call or telex airline staff, who would mark the reservation on a card and file it. As demand for air travel increased and schedules grew more complex, this process became impractical. This system was used in the hospitality branch.

In 1946, American Airlines installed the first automated booking system, the experimental electromechanical Reservisor. A newer machine with temporary storage based on a magnetic drum, the Magnetronic Reservisor, soon followed. This system proved successful, and was soon being used by several airlines, as well as Sheraton Hotels and Goodyear for inventory control. It was seriously hampered by the need for local human operators to do the actual lookups; ticketing agents would have to call a booking office, whose operators would direct a small team operating the Reservisor and then read the results over the telephone. There was no way for agents to directly query the system.

In 1953, Trans-Canada Airlines (TCA) started investigating a computer-based system with remote terminals, testing one design on the University of Toronto's Manchester Mark 1 machine that summer. Though successful, the researchers found that input and output was a major problem. Ferranti Canada became involved in the project and suggested a new system using punch cards and a transistorized computer in place of the unreliable tube-based Mark I. The resulting system, ReserVec, started operation in 1962, and took over all booking operations in January 1963. Terminals were placed in all of TCA's ticketing offices, allowing all queries and bookings to complete in about one second with no remote operators needed.

In 1953, American Airlines CEO C. R. Smith chanced to sit next to R. Blair Smith, a senior IBM sales representative. C.R. invited Blair to visit their Reservisor system and look for ways that IBM could improve the system. Blair alerted Thomas Watson Jr. that American was interested in a major collaboration, and a series of low-level studies started. Their idea of an automated Airline Reservation System (ARS) resulted in a 1959 venture known as the Semi-Automatic Business Research Environment (SABRE), launched the following year. By the time the network was completed in December 1964, it was the largest civil data processing system in the world.

Other airlines soon established their own systems. Delta Air Lines launched the Delta Automated Travel Account System (DATAS) in 1968. United Airlines and Trans World Airlines followed in 1971 with the Apollo Reservation System and Programmed Airline Reservation System (PARS), respectively. Soon, travel agents began pushing for a system that could automate their side of the process by accessing the various ARSes directly to make reservations. Fearful this would place too much power in the hands of agents, American Airlines executive Robert Crandall proposed creating an industry-wide Computer Reservation System to be a central clearinghouse for U.S. travel; other airlines demurred, citing fear of antitrust prosecution.

In 1976, United began offering its Apollo system to travel agents; while it would allow the agents to book tickets on United's competitors, the marketing value of the convenient terminal proved indispensable. SABRE, PARS, and DATAS were soon released to travel agents as well. Following airline deregulation in 1978, an efficient CRS proved particularly important; by some counts, Texas Air executive Frank Lorenzo purchased money-losing Eastern Air Lines specifically to gain control of its SystemOne CRS.

Also in 1976 Videcom international with British Airways, British Caledonian and CCL launched Travicom, the world's first multi-access reservations system, (wholly based on Videcom technology), forming a network providing distribution for 49 subscribing international airlines (including British Airways, British Caledonian, TWA , Pan American World Airways, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Air France, Lufthansa, SAS, Air Canada, KLM, Alitalia, Cathay Pacific and JAL) to 1000's of Travel Agents in the UK. It allowed agents and airlines to communicate via a common distribution language and network, handling 97% of UK airline business trade bookings by 1987. The system went on to be replicated by Videcom in other areas of the World including the Middle East (DMARS), New Zealand, Kuwait (KMARS), Ireland, Caribbean, United Sates and Hong Kong. The Travicom UK multi access system airlines eventually migrated into the system called Galileo CRS in the UK today and in 1988 Travicom Ltd was migrated into the distribution company Galileo UK.

European airlines also began to invest in the field in the 1980s, propelled by growth in demand for travel as well as technological advances which allowed GDSes to offer ever-increasing services and searching power. In 1987, a consortium led by Air France and West Germany's Lufthansa developed Amadeus, modeled on SystemOne. In 1990, Delta, Northwest Airlines, and Trans World Airlines formed Worldspan, and in 1993, another consortium (including British Airways, KLM, and United Airlines, among others) formed the competing company Galileo International based on Apollo. Numerous smaller companies as KIU, have also formed, aimed at niche markets the four largest networks do not cater to; as the Low Cost Carrier(LCC)segment and small and medium size domestic and regional airlines as well. THIS IS WRONG?

Major systems

Name	Created by	Also used by	US Market share*
Amadeus	Air France Iberia Lufthansa SAS	Online travel agencies including Anyfares ebookers Expedia Flights Opodo Over 500 individual airlines Over 120 individual airline websites Over 90,000 travel agencies Over 76,000 hotels	9.2%
SABRE	All Nippon Airways American Airlines Cathay Pacific Airways China Airlines Singapore Airlines	Expedia Godard Lastminute.com Mobissimo Travelocity Over 20 individual airlines	44.7%
Galileo	Aer Lingus Air Canada Alitalia British Airways Swissair TAP United Airlines US Airways	CheapTickets ebookers Orbitz	19.7%
Worldspan	Delta Northwest TWA	Hotwire Hotels Priceline Orbitz	26.5%
Patheo	Finnair KLM Lufthansa - > Moved to Amadeus VA	Online Travel agencies including Airgorrila American Express Anyfares Flights
Abacus	All Nippon Airways Cathay Pacific Airways China Airlines Dragonair EVA Airways Garuda Indonesia Malaysia Airlines Philippine Airlines Royal Brunei Airlines SABRE SilkAir Singapore Airlines	Online travel agencies including Over 450 individual airlines Over 25 countries in Asia Pacific Over 80,000 hotels
KIU	Sol Lineas Aereas Aerogal Star Peru LC Busre Peruvian Airlines Cielos Andinos Easyfly Laser Airlines LADE - Lineas Aereas Del Estado Amaszonas Maya Air	Over 12 individual airlines Over 10 countries in Latin and North America travel agencies and Wholesale Tour Operators worldwide

• In December 2006, Travelport, which owns Galileo, agreed to buy and merge with the Worldspan GDS. The combined company would then control a 46.3% market share using 2002 airline booking data.

• Worldspan's market share is 16.9% globally and 31% in the U.S. according to 2006 MIDT airline transaction data.

• In March 2007, Royal Dutch Airlines KLM switched from Galileo to Amadeus as a result of the merger with Air France.

See also

• Airline Reservation System
• Passenger Name Record
• Travel technology

Further reading

• Winston, Clifford, "The Evolution of the Airline Industry", Brookings Institution Press, 1995. ISBN 081575843X. Cf. p. 61-62, Computer Reservation Systems.

External links

• Consumer Web Watch: Computer Reservations System (CRSs) and Travel Technology
• Hospitality.net: Galileo International Tells USDOT: Modified Computer Reservation System (CRS) Rules Necessary to Protect Consumers and Competition, 18 March 2003
• Das, Samipatra. "Global Distribution Systems in Present Times," Hospitality.net, 30 September 2003
• Hasbrouck, Edward. The Practical Nomad: "What's in a Passenger Name Record (PNR)?"
• European Union: Code of conduct for use of computerized reservation systems (CRS's)
• United States Department of Transportation: Computer Reservations System (CRS)