02 March 2007

Tonight they turn out the lights HP-US

So names change and things pass but tonight will see the end of an era when America West goes away for good. At the same time the last vestiges of the "old" US Airways will also disappear as the reservations cut over from Sabre to EDS-SHARES is completed. The last bank of flights on the midnight runs from Las Vegas will be handled essentially manually but from tomorrow Sabre Airline Soluutions has one less customer for its core airline hosting services.

01 March 2007

Bravo to WestJet.... New Website for Vision impaired

In the late 1980s when I first started to work at TWA-PARS I worked at a desk inside the Res Center in Kansas City. Space was a problem as I was part of a new group focused on Technology and new systems. Over in one corner of the res center was a small group of people who were working on something I had never heard of before. The small group of people didnt last long but they were just as good as any other res user. Except for one thing - they were all blind. Using a system called a Versa Braille and a cobbled together system using a Lanyon board they were able to take reservations. Whether this ever made it beyond a test stage I never found out. However i have always felt that the one thing we suffer in the Web age is our ability to handle it without sight.

Coincidently this week two events occurred which brought this back into focus for me. My mother (who is 96!!!) told me she can no longer see to read - the one thing she always loved to do. This is very thought provoking especially for people like you and me who spend so much time in front of these screens. The other event was WestJet (Canadian LCC) who launched their website for the site impaired.

More power to Westjet and my Mum has employed someone to read to her.

Cheers

Timothy

26 February 2007

LCCs - UK CAA study. Evolution or Revolution

To be highly recommended for all students of the Distribution business.

http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP770.pdf

I recommend reading this and then we can chat. FYI Look for the new T2Impact/Omnitourism LCC study which was conducted last week. Interesting results. Look for the study to be published in the coming weeks

Cheers

Timothy