Etihad Airways – Building the Future Etihad Airways is an airline headquartered in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It
Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2022 2:37 pm
Etihad Airways – Building the Future
Etihad Airways is an airline headquartered in Abu Dhabi, United
Arab Emirates. It began operations in 2003 and now serves over 120
destinations in over 60 countries. Etihad has codeshare agreements
(two or more airlines share the same flight) with over 53 different
airlines around the world, allowing its customers to seamlessly
book flights to over 400 destinations through these partner
carriers. Major regional competitors include Emirates Airline and
Qatar Airways.
Etihad not only offers passenger services. Through its
full-owned subsidiary, Etihad Airport Services, the Etihad group
also provides: 1) Ground Services – including check-in, baggage
handling, aircraft cabin cleaning, passenger and crew transport to
aircraft, 2) Cargo – including freight handling services,
warehousing, and security screening, and 3) Catering – including
sourcing, preparation, and provision of food and duty-free items.
Etihad Airport Services is fully integrated into the Etihad Airways
group through the use of shared IT systems, the joint procurement
of supplies, and training programs.
The past few years were significant for the information technology
(IT) division of Etihad. Initiatives include the migration of
passenger services systems to an information system called Sabre,
to provide a single global platform for more than 40 reservations
systems, departure control systems, and the customer loyalty
program. Known within the company as “The Big Switch”, the final
alignment and integration of these disparate systems occurred
following the training of almost 7,000 employees.
Another initiative is that Etihad signed a 10-year deal with
technology provider SITA Aero for supply of airfield wide-area
networks, data center hosting, desktop computer service and end
user computing support. This allowed Etihad to introduce the iKnow
system, providing in-flight tablet devices to all cabin managers,
enabling them to gain online access to information such as flight
connections and individual passenger requirements. The customized
tablet devices provide online access to information including
passengers’ frequent flyer status, meal preferences, onward flight
connections, and details of any issues which may have arisen for
customers on previous flights. Etihad also continued to add
in-flight Wi-Fi, mobile phone connectivity, and live television
connections to their wide-body aircraft.
Additionally, Etihad Cargo implemented an electronic document, or
e-airwaybill (a receipt issued by an international airline for
goods and an evidence of the contract of carriage). Cargo became
the first freight carrier in the Gulf region, and one of the first
in the world, to implement Cargo-XML, which eliminates the need for
paper documentation and speeds processing of cargo. In operations,
Etihad introduced software that assesses and selects the best
routes available, and considers the shortest flight paths, and
en-route fees including the most favorable “overflight costs”
charged by various countries for the use of their airspace. Etihad
now optimizes every flight in its network, which significantly
reduces fuel consumption and carbon emissions, to achieve sizeable
savings. For example, the flight from Abu Dhabi to Chicago
following a “fixed route” will take 14 hours and 30 minutes
consuming 113,350 kilograms of fuel. However, by optimizing the Abu
Dhabi – Chicago route, Etihad can shorten the journey by up to 20
minutes in each direction, cutting fuel consumption in each
direction by 2,308 kilograms. This reduces CO2 emissions by 7,000
kilograms.
The IT department completed a virtualization project that concerned
Etihad’s three customer contact centers. The challenge was that
those legacy centers were run as individual sites. Etihad chose to
integrate the customer contact centers using a pay-as-you-go cloud
platform provided by Cisco. As a result, Etihad was able to more
efficiently utilize the services of its 450 multi-lingual agents,
which resulted in a 10 percent increase in their efficiency. The
system equips the agents with various tools on their desktops to
answer customer queries efficiently, and provides essential insight
and management information across the three contact centers. With
this intelligence, Etihad increased productivity by 75
percent.
Etihad and IBM announced a ten-year technology services agreement
worth approximately US$700 million. IBM will deliver a range of
secure and efficient technology services, allowing Etihad and its
partners to transform their IT infrastructure into global, flexible
and agile cloud-based platforms to better serve their guests and
employees. Through IBM’s mobile solutions, the airline provides
enhanced mobile capabilities to its employees and guests. This
initiative enables airport operations to run more efficiently,
which will improve the guest experience as a result of an enhanced
end-to-end process. Such new technologies include better luggage
drops with label printing and self-boarding gates based on data
generated from check-ins, enable airlines to order, replace and
maintain aircraft components more efficiently, better estimate
travel times, and better manage loyalty programs.
Several initiatives were launched by the sales and marketing
department. Etihad.com is an integrated sales and marketing channel
for Etihad, with 100 country-specific websites enabling consumers
to book flights, rental cars and chauffeur services, and to check
in for flights or update their bookings. With the introduction of
the new Sabre system, Etihad launched an enhanced core website, its
first mobile website, new content management and anti-fraud
systems, and a wide range of non-credit payment methods across more
than 30 countries. Etihad.com was upgraded to offer five new
languages, taking the total to 15.
Etihad intensified database marketing, with revenue from promotions
reaching US$142.4 million. Of this, US$99.3 million was generated
by premium product promotions and US$43.1 million from Economy
Class activities. A new database was also developed for consumer
marketing, reaching over 350,000. Another measure of recognition
was the continued growth of Etihad’s loyalty program, Etihad Guest,
with membership numbers up by 21%– an average increase of almost
1,100 members every day.
Sources: All information taken from Etihad Airways 2013 Annual
Report and various news sources.
What would you consider to be the three primary information
security threats facing Etihad? What should Etihad do to deal with
each of them? case study
Etihad Airways is an airline headquartered in Abu Dhabi, United
Arab Emirates. It began operations in 2003 and now serves over 120
destinations in over 60 countries. Etihad has codeshare agreements
(two or more airlines share the same flight) with over 53 different
airlines around the world, allowing its customers to seamlessly
book flights to over 400 destinations through these partner
carriers. Major regional competitors include Emirates Airline and
Qatar Airways.
Etihad not only offers passenger services. Through its
full-owned subsidiary, Etihad Airport Services, the Etihad group
also provides: 1) Ground Services – including check-in, baggage
handling, aircraft cabin cleaning, passenger and crew transport to
aircraft, 2) Cargo – including freight handling services,
warehousing, and security screening, and 3) Catering – including
sourcing, preparation, and provision of food and duty-free items.
Etihad Airport Services is fully integrated into the Etihad Airways
group through the use of shared IT systems, the joint procurement
of supplies, and training programs.
The past few years were significant for the information technology
(IT) division of Etihad. Initiatives include the migration of
passenger services systems to an information system called Sabre,
to provide a single global platform for more than 40 reservations
systems, departure control systems, and the customer loyalty
program. Known within the company as “The Big Switch”, the final
alignment and integration of these disparate systems occurred
following the training of almost 7,000 employees.
Another initiative is that Etihad signed a 10-year deal with
technology provider SITA Aero for supply of airfield wide-area
networks, data center hosting, desktop computer service and end
user computing support. This allowed Etihad to introduce the iKnow
system, providing in-flight tablet devices to all cabin managers,
enabling them to gain online access to information such as flight
connections and individual passenger requirements. The customized
tablet devices provide online access to information including
passengers’ frequent flyer status, meal preferences, onward flight
connections, and details of any issues which may have arisen for
customers on previous flights. Etihad also continued to add
in-flight Wi-Fi, mobile phone connectivity, and live television
connections to their wide-body aircraft.
Additionally, Etihad Cargo implemented an electronic document, or
e-airwaybill (a receipt issued by an international airline for
goods and an evidence of the contract of carriage). Cargo became
the first freight carrier in the Gulf region, and one of the first
in the world, to implement Cargo-XML, which eliminates the need for
paper documentation and speeds processing of cargo. In operations,
Etihad introduced software that assesses and selects the best
routes available, and considers the shortest flight paths, and
en-route fees including the most favorable “overflight costs”
charged by various countries for the use of their airspace. Etihad
now optimizes every flight in its network, which significantly
reduces fuel consumption and carbon emissions, to achieve sizeable
savings. For example, the flight from Abu Dhabi to Chicago
following a “fixed route” will take 14 hours and 30 minutes
consuming 113,350 kilograms of fuel. However, by optimizing the Abu
Dhabi – Chicago route, Etihad can shorten the journey by up to 20
minutes in each direction, cutting fuel consumption in each
direction by 2,308 kilograms. This reduces CO2 emissions by 7,000
kilograms.
The IT department completed a virtualization project that concerned
Etihad’s three customer contact centers. The challenge was that
those legacy centers were run as individual sites. Etihad chose to
integrate the customer contact centers using a pay-as-you-go cloud
platform provided by Cisco. As a result, Etihad was able to more
efficiently utilize the services of its 450 multi-lingual agents,
which resulted in a 10 percent increase in their efficiency. The
system equips the agents with various tools on their desktops to
answer customer queries efficiently, and provides essential insight
and management information across the three contact centers. With
this intelligence, Etihad increased productivity by 75
percent.
Etihad and IBM announced a ten-year technology services agreement
worth approximately US$700 million. IBM will deliver a range of
secure and efficient technology services, allowing Etihad and its
partners to transform their IT infrastructure into global, flexible
and agile cloud-based platforms to better serve their guests and
employees. Through IBM’s mobile solutions, the airline provides
enhanced mobile capabilities to its employees and guests. This
initiative enables airport operations to run more efficiently,
which will improve the guest experience as a result of an enhanced
end-to-end process. Such new technologies include better luggage
drops with label printing and self-boarding gates based on data
generated from check-ins, enable airlines to order, replace and
maintain aircraft components more efficiently, better estimate
travel times, and better manage loyalty programs.
Several initiatives were launched by the sales and marketing
department. Etihad.com is an integrated sales and marketing channel
for Etihad, with 100 country-specific websites enabling consumers
to book flights, rental cars and chauffeur services, and to check
in for flights or update their bookings. With the introduction of
the new Sabre system, Etihad launched an enhanced core website, its
first mobile website, new content management and anti-fraud
systems, and a wide range of non-credit payment methods across more
than 30 countries. Etihad.com was upgraded to offer five new
languages, taking the total to 15.
Etihad intensified database marketing, with revenue from promotions
reaching US$142.4 million. Of this, US$99.3 million was generated
by premium product promotions and US$43.1 million from Economy
Class activities. A new database was also developed for consumer
marketing, reaching over 350,000. Another measure of recognition
was the continued growth of Etihad’s loyalty program, Etihad Guest,
with membership numbers up by 21%– an average increase of almost
1,100 members every day.
Sources: All information taken from Etihad Airways 2013 Annual
Report and various news sources.
What would you consider to be the three primary information
security threats facing Etihad? What should Etihad do to deal with
each of them? case study