Mexicana Airlines Improves Market Insight With Sabre Airline Solutions Analytical Systems

Mexicana Airlines Realizes Significant Cost Savings Using Market Data and Analysis Systems

SOUTHLAKE, Texas, Apr 7, 2004 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Mexicana Airlines has announced significant improvements in its ability to measure route utilization and agency performance as a result of Sabre Airline Solutions market data and analysis system implementations.

In 2003, Mexicana chose to replace the market data analysis products provided by a previous vendor with the Sabre TransVision traffic flow analyzer and the Sabre WiseVision sales expansion system to maximize opportunities, gain market share, improve schedules and optimize commissions disbursements to travel agencies.

“Providing employees with systems that offer more efficient ways of detecting market trends and changes has helped Mexicana make wiser decisions,” said Sergio Allard, executive vice president sales and marketing for Mexicana. “By using the TransVision and WiseVision systems, we now have reliable numbers, giving our sales representatives greater negotiation power. With these systems, Mexicana has increased overall confidence in the business decisions we make, and has allowed Mexicana to negotiate new commission agreements with agencies, track their performance and greatly increase sales representative efficiency.”

Airlines utilizing TransVision and WiseVision have been able to increase overall booking share up to 2 percent, and increase specific market booking share by as much as 7 percent.

“We are not doing our jobs unless we can provide airlines with bankable results,” said Steve Clampett, president of Airline Products and Services for Sabre Airline Solutions. “With TransVision and WiseVision, airlines gain benefits almost immediately.”

The WiseVision system helps Mexicana sales representatives decrease the time required to analyze and interpret large quantities of market data. By presenting analysis results in multiple ways to support the sales process, the system facilitates productivity and financial savings in the pursuit of winning opportunities.

“Our sales people are amazed by the capabilities and amount of information provided by these tools and have noticed a significant difference in the way that Mexicana operates now versus when we used the previous products,” said Allard.

With more than 100 sales representatives, the carrier has significantly improved efficiency by utilizing the WiseVision system’s groups, structures and templates features to save time and effort in analysis. This provides the sales team more time to focus on their core business of selling.

Mexicana has further leveraged its market information data tapes (MIDT) purchase with the use of the TransVision analyzer in its network management department. The system assists with scheduling and task planning based on traveler booking trends. System efficiencies mean users spend less time retrieving and compiling data and more time making business decisions. Analysis of areas such as route performance, passenger flow and codeshare evaluation facilitates maximized flight schedules. The system also lets Mexicana view potential market opportunities in a variety of ways by extracting valuable transit information from CRS and GDS booking transactions. With this insight, the airline can analyze:

     --  Transit-point passenger flows,
     --  Trunk route feeding,
     --  Onward traffic flows,
     --  Time-of-day and day-of-week passenger distribution,
     --  Route and airline preferences,
     --  Codeshare impact on sales figures,
     --  Cabin and yield distribution.

Through the use of the TransVision system, Mexicana is not only able to track and evaluate its codeshare agreements, but competitive codeshare agreements as well. This gives the carrier a strategic advantage during future negotiations.

Mexicana also utilizes the TransVision system to determine network utilization. This data-mining system provides the carrier with detailed analysis of origin and destination (O&D) data. Utilizing the in-depth travel analysis, the airline’s planning and scheduling departments can modify and adapt flight schedules to fit traffic flow patterns. Due to the system’s ability to identify the most popular routes and transit points, Mexicana can target the best possible departure and/or arrival times and maximize passenger loads, while increasing revenues and potentially expanding market share.

Mexicana utilizes both systems as Sabre eMergo Web-enabled solutions, the Sabre Airline Solutions’ applications service provider (ASP) model. Accessing these systems via the eMergo environment eliminates the airline’s need for costly and complicated in-house data center infrastructure and support.

Mexicana relies on Sabre Airline Solutions for other smart technologies that provide proven, bankable results, including products within its Sabre AirFlite planning and scheduling suite; the Sabre Maxi-Merlin maintenance, engineering, and inventory system; and Sabre AirServ inflight services, another product accessed through the eMergo ASP model.

Ten other airlines from all parts of the globe currently use the TransVision and WiseVision products.

About Mexicana

Mexicana de Aviacion is Mexico’s leading international airline. Its fleet is considered to be one of the youngest in the world. It also offers more than 52 destinations in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. Mexicana offers great benefits in accruing and redeeming miles, access to Executive Lounges (Salones Ejecutivos), wide possibility for connections and coordinated timetables in an extensive route network.

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 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.

Sabre Holdings Corporation (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, WiseVision, TransVision, eMergo 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.

SOURCE Sabre Airline Solutions

Kathryn Hayden of Sabre Airline Solutions, +1-682-605-2252, or
Kathryn.hayden@sabre-holdings.com
http://www.sabre-holdings.com