Week 7 Assignment
402
Part IV: Building and Managing Systems
BUSINESS PROBLEM-SOLVING CASE
JetBlue and WestJet: A Tale of Two IS Projects
The time had come for both JetBlue and WestJet to upgrade their reservation systems. Each carrier had started out using a system designed for smaller start-up airlines, and both needed more processing power to deal with a far greater volume of customers. They also needed features like the ability to link prices and seat inventories to other airlines with whom they cooperated.
Both JetBlue and WestJet contracted with Sabre
Holdings, one of the most widely used airline IT providers, to upgrade their airline reservation systems,
The difference between WestJet and JetBlue’s implementation of Sabre’s SabreSonic CSS reservation system illustrates the dangers inherent in any large-scale IT overhaul. It also serves as yet another reminder of how successfully planning for and implementing new technology is just as valuable as the technology itself.
Sabre’s newest system, SabreSonic CSS, performs a broad array of services for any airline. It sells seats, collects payments, allows customers to shop for flights on the airline’s Web site, and provides an interface for communication with reservation agents. Customers can use it to access airport kiosks, select specific seats, check their bags, board, rebook, and receive refunds for flight cancellations. All of the data generated by these transactions are stored centrally within the system.
JetBlue selected SabreSonic CSS over its legacy system developed by Sabre rival Navitaire, and WestJet was upgrading from an older Sabre reservation system of its own. The first of the two airlines to implement SabreSonic
CSS was WestJet. When WestJet went live with the new system in October 2009, customers struggled to place reservations, and the WestJet Web site crashed repeatedly. WestJet’s call centers were also overwhelmed, and customers experienced slowdowns at airports. For a
Part IV: Building and Managing Systems
BUSINESS PROBLEM-SOLVING CASE
JetBlue and WestJet: A Tale of Two IS Projects
The time had come for both JetBlue and WestJet to upgrade their reservation systems. Each carrier had started out using a system designed for smaller start-up airlines, and both needed more processing power to deal with a far greater volume of customers. They also needed features like the ability to link prices and seat inventories to other airlines with whom they cooperated.
Both JetBlue and WestJet contracted with Sabre
Holdings, one of the most widely used airline IT providers, to upgrade their airline reservation systems,
The difference between WestJet and JetBlue’s implementation of Sabre’s SabreSonic CSS reservation system illustrates the dangers inherent in any large-scale IT overhaul. It also serves as yet another reminder of how successfully planning for and implementing new technology is just as valuable as the technology itself.
Sabre’s newest system, SabreSonic CSS, performs a broad array of services for any airline. It sells seats, collects payments, allows customers to shop for flights on the airline’s Web site, and provides an interface for communication with reservation agents. Customers can use it to access airport kiosks, select specific seats, check their bags, board, rebook, and receive refunds for flight cancellations. All of the data generated by these transactions are stored centrally within the system.
JetBlue selected SabreSonic CSS over its legacy system developed by Sabre rival Navitaire, and WestJet was upgrading from an older Sabre reservation system of its own. The first of the two airlines to implement SabreSonic
CSS was WestJet. When WestJet went live with the new system in October 2009, customers struggled to place reservations, and the WestJet Web site crashed repeatedly. WestJet’s call centers were also overwhelmed, and customers experienced slowdowns at airports. For a