So the aggressive guys at Westjet went from announcement to implementation in about 9 months.
WOW!
So that must be a record for an airline of that size to make such a migration in such a period of time.
Kudos to the Sabre team for the work done.
There are some clear lessons here that can be applied to many airlines who are currently reviewing their PSS infrastructure.
The Professor therefore thinks airlines should consider their position as follows:
1. Changing your PSS is not as traumatic as has been believed. If you are focused and set a clear goal and objectives - you can do it in a reasonable time. Remember one of the Professor's cardinal rules - no project should take longer than one year.
2. The complexity of a PSS system is no longer a black art. Focus works.
3. Navitaire is pretty vulnerable and has done little to support the increased complexity of the airline model. Now they are paying the price with major defections of jetBlue and Westjet. There are other customers who are not happy. Chaps - this should be a wake up call.
4. Sabre is VERY hungry and given the loss of their anchor customer American to the new Jetstream product of HP/EDS - you can expect great deals and good service from Dallas - the like of which has not been seen in decades.
5. Amadeus is NOT the only game in town. There are good choices possible, available and desirable. From the big guys (Sabre et al) to the mid/small size guys - Results, Radixx etc.
6. the importance of the Distribution manangement system means you must take the time and have a clear layer between the PSS and the GDSs. Don't believe the BS from the bigger players that their systems answer everything.
7. Examine your costs and check very carefully on the offers from the vendors. Focus on the bottom line not just the headline price. AND make sure that your invoicing works in a comprehensible manner. PSS and GDS vendors have long since obfuscated the true cost of the service.
8. Finally remember that there is the out of pocket cost but also the internal service costs surrounding things. Watch this one.
Cheers
2 comments:
Let's wait and see if they can get website and service stabilized before we celebrate success. Success in systems is a marathon not a sprint.
Professor Sabena - here's the rest of the story...
When AA let Sabre know that they would be leaving, Sabre recognized that they needed to replace the lost revenue and market share. They targeted Navitaire's customer base with Sabre's CEO visiting CEO's from the targeted airlines.
The NEW Sabre Interact system - and that really is a misnomer - is based on a 60+ year old command-line program. Sabre has attempted to put a GUI on the front-end and it has been a dismal failure. The interface still must mesh with and follow the same protocol commands used in the old program. As a result, the program is NOT intuitive and is difficult to learn. Various operations are now much more complicated - for instance, rebooking a ticket is now 6-steps, repricing a ticket is now 11-steps, an exchange is now 35-steps and a refund-reissue requires a whopping 74-steps... YES, 74-STEPS!! No wonder there are extremely long hold times to reach a JetBlue agent!
The issues at WestJet clearly showed the flaws with Sabre's Interact program. Unfortunately, JetBlue was too far along the migration path to turn back. I think that JetBlue will ultimately survive this customer service nightmare, it's just really sad that Sabre has screwed them over just like they did WestJet.
Two conversions to Sabre and nothing but problems. Sabre blamed all of the problems on WestJet when time, and now the issues with JetBlue, clearly show that the issues and blame clearly lay with Sabre. I read yesterday that Sabre is now going to pay WestJet "compensation" for all of the problems they had, and still continue to experience. I hope JetBlue also pushes for compensation.
These two examples should make any airline executive pause before even considering a move to Sabre Interact. Seriously, it's just not worth it.
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