TCS launches new solutions for airlines

CHENNAI: Tata Consultancy Services, India’s top software exporter, has launched a new set of solutions for airlines. TCS is also working on a new software management solution to monitor cabin crew for British Airways, and recently tested systems at the London Heathrow Terminal 5, scheduled to open on March 27, 2008.

TCS chief executive officer and managing director S Ramadorai told reporters that the new solutions, named Innovation 2.0, were developed at its travel and hospitality lab in Chennai. “The global travel and hospitality market is fiercely competitive. To meet their business objectives, companies must consistently deliver customer delight and create a rich, personalised travel experience,” he said. Inovation 2.0 products would address these needs, he said.

At present, airline sector spends $11-13 billion on technolgy, and the IT spend is growing at 7-9 per cent a year, said TCS’s travel & hospitality head G Raghavan. While Innovation 1.0 was about managing ‘touch points’ such as websites and check in kiosks, Innovation 2.0 is about increasing revenues using these touch points. These solutions would help airlines identify more profitable segments using data on client history, behaviour etc; provide relevant services for the customers, and enable loyalty points to be earned and redeemed real time by customers across all touch points, he said.

Travel and hospitality domain accounts for 4.4 per cent of TCS revenue, employs 3000 people, and counts British Airways, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic among its clients.