SOUTHLAKE, Texas & HONOLULU–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oct. 26, 2004–Sabre
Airline Solutions, the industry leader in airline operations
technology, announced today a multi-year agreement with Hawaiian
Airlines to renew and strengthen the carrier’s commitment to the
SabreSonic suite of new generation passenger management solutions. The
agreement ranks among the largest renewals to date for the new
generation technology.
Hawaiian Airlines — the nation’s #1 on-time carrier for the past
10 months — has employed SabreSonic’s open systems technology to
power its reservations, ticketing and check-in functions since 1994.
The carrier has renewed those features and now is adding additional
customer care features available in the suite in order to promote a
customer-centric environment. These include two CRM offerings —
Customer Insight and Customer Data Delivery.
“The open systems technology of Sabre Airline Solutions has been a
key component of our success in establishing Hawaiian Airlines as the
industry leader with customer service,” said Gordon Locke, senior vice
president of marketing and sales at Hawaiian Airlines. “The
flexibility and adaptability of the SabreSonic suite will enhance our
customer service even more by providing clean, easy-to-use data before
and after each sale.”
Customer Insight, the industry’s first true operational customer
care program, provides the first continuous flow of passenger
information throughout a carrier’s disparate operational systems.
Customer Insight can be accessed through web services, which will
enable any authorized Hawaiian Airlines employee to easily create,
retrieve and modify the customer information at any customer touch
point. For travelers on Hawaiian Airlines, this integrated customer
view means they can get quicker service and up-to-date, consistent
information.
The second SabreSonic customer care option that Hawaiian Airlines
is adding to its portfolio is Customer Data Delivery, which provides
detailed travel pattern information through passenger trip data in
both real time and scheduled timeframes. The data includes advance
booking information on all active bookings made by the airline as well
as bookings made by travel agencies and other airlines, and delivers
only data elements relevant to the carrier’s business needs and at a
frequency determined by the airline. The customized delivery of travel
patterns and behavior information can be used to improve customer
service, optimize revenues and provide the foundation for additional
marketing opportunities.
The customer care options for SabreSonic provide a holistic view
of the customer to aid the airline in fulfilling its commitment to
customer service. As an example, Customer Insight can store complete
information about customers, including destination, service, and seat
preferences as well as historical customer experience data. This
information is available at all customer service points, enabling
staff to better serve and understand customers as well as respond to
service experiences. This customer-centric approach allows airlines to
shift focus from merely processing passengers to providing travelers
with personalized customer service throughout their journey.
“Hawaiian Airlines has an extraordinary focus on customer service,
as evidenced by its recent number-one ranking for on-time service,
baggage handling and fewest cancellations. The addition of these
SabreSonic features will continue this tradition of service,” said
Gianni Marostica, president, Airline Passenger Solutions at Sabre
Airline Solutions. “The newly adopted technology easily integrates
with the airline’s existing systems and components from Sabre Airline
Solutions, minimizing time and costs involved in assuring a higher
level of dedication to customers.”
Along with the additions of Customer Insight and Customer Data
Delivery to its portfolio of advanced technology from Sabre Airline
Solutions, Hawaiian Airlines renewed commitments to:
SabreSonic Res — Advanced reservations management capabilities
that enable airlines to efficiently grow revenue and manage every
channel of distribution. SabreSonic Res includes the industry’s
leading online booking engine as well as shopping, ticketing and
codeshare capabilities.
SabreSonic Ticket — State-of-the-art e-ticketing functionality
that eliminates the need to build costly systems for electronic ticket
distribution and database maintenance. Using this component, an
airline can connect to a universal electronic ticketing hub for
cost-effective, efficient connectivity to e-ticketing partner
airlines.
SabreSonic Check-in — Leading departure control capabilities that
facilitate efficient passenger processing both on and off airport
grounds, streamlining operations and enhancing the customer travel
experience. Its capabilities include check in, re-accommodation and
automated fee collection capabilities all managed from a single,
easy-to-use GUI.
The customer care package delivered by Sabre Airline Solutions
augments Hawaiian Airlines’ ongoing customer service plan that
includes BaggageDirect, an exclusive, TSA-certified service providing
complete passenger and baggage check-in from home, office, or hotel
including delivery of boarding passes and baggage claim receipts.
Since its launch in January 2004, the SabreSonic suite has been
widely accepted by carriers large and small around the globe. The
suite is now in use by more than 100 airlines in 39 countries.
About Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines, the nation’s number one on-time carrier, is
recognized as one of the best airlines in America. Business travelers
recently surveyed by Conde Nast Traveler rated Hawaiian Airlines as
having the best in-flight service and meals of any U.S. carrier. In
addition, Hawaiian is ranked as the nation’s fifth best airline
overall by Travel + Leisure, ahead of every other carrier flying to
Hawaii.
Celebrating its 75th year of continuous service, Hawaiian Airlines
is Hawaii’s biggest and longest-serving airline, and the second
largest provider of passenger air service between Hawaii and the
mainland U.S. Hawaiian offers nonstop service to Hawaii from more
mainland U.S. gateways than any other airline. Hawaiian also provides
approximately 100 daily jet flights among the Hawaiian Islands, as
well as service to Australia, American Samoa and Tahiti.
Hawaiian Airlines, Inc., is a subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings,
Inc. (AMEX:HA)(PCX:HA). Since the appointment of a bankruptcy trustee
in May 2003, Hawaiian Holdings has had no involvement in the
management of Hawaiian Airlines and has had limited access to
information concerning the airline. Additional information is
available at www.HawaiianAir.com.
About Sabre Airline Solutions
Sabre Airline Solutions, a Sabre Holdings company, is the world’s
largest provider of software products, reservations and departure
control systems and other passenger management systems, and consulting
services that help airlines simplify operations and lower costs. Sabre
Airline Solutions’ proven leadership is demonstrated by the growing
number of airlines that leverage the technology and services: More
than 200 airlines worldwide use Sabre Airline Solutions’ broad
portfolio of smart solutions for decision-support tools to increase
revenues and improve operations. More than 100 airlines worldwide rely
on Sabre Airline Solutions for passenger management solutions, with 15
new carriers added and nine carrier renewals for SabreSonic Res
advanced reservations and departure control systems in 2003. In
addition, more than 100 clients worldwide have turned to Sabre Airline
Solutions consulting group for strategic, commercial and operational
consulting. More than 500 contracts worldwide were signed in 2003
within Sabre Airline Solutions and nearly 400 have been signed in the
first half of 2004.
Sabre Holdings Corp. (NYSE:TSG) is a world leader in travel
commerce, retailing travel products and providing distribution and
technology solutions for the travel industry. More information about
Sabre Holdings is available at http://www.sabre-holdings.com/.
Sabre Airline Solutions, the Sabre Airline Solutions logo, and
SabreSonic are trademarks and/or service marks of an affiliate of
Sabre Holdings Corporation. All other trademarks, service marks, and
trade names are the property of their respective owners. (C) 2004
Sabre Inc. All rights reserved.
CONTACT: Sabre Airline Solutions, Southlake
Kathryn Hayden, 682-605-2252
kathryn.hayden@sabre-holdings.com
or
Hawaiian Airlines, Honolulu
Keoni Wagner, 808-838-6778
wagner@hawaiian
SOURCE: Sabre Airline Solutions