ITC508 – Case Study 2 Airline Information System for XYZ Company XYZ is a growing Australian airline company which aims to provide a number of services throughout the world including airline operations, freight transport, food production and loyalty programs. This company has a requirement for a new information system which will work together to support their day to day operation of airline system. New information system must include:  Flight reservation system  Travel service reservation system  Human resource management system  Accounting and finance system  Sale and marketing system. Detailed information on these sub-systems can be found from the following. 1. Flight Reservation System There are two types of users—ordinary customers, who occasionally use the system, and regular customer, who use the system most frequently. Ordinary customers Usually ordinary customer want to buy cheaper flight tickets in order to save some money and such customers are normally flexible with the dates. Flight reservation system should present with more options with cheaper alternatives when ordinary customers selects “flexible with dates” option while searching for bargain flights. The payment mechanisms through which an ordinary customer can pay are cash or card, where a 1.5% surcharge will apply on credit cards. Regular customers However, regular customer have special profiles where they can get advantage of special discounts and other benefits as royal member. The flight reservation system should be able to display, add, deduct, and maintain the history of frequent flier points, as well as provide a pleasant travel experience and convenience of avoiding airport checkin lines. As a result, the newly developed information system should reduce check-in effort for the staff and reduce the cost of airport operations. The system should be capable of searching cheap flights for frequent / regular customers as well.The possible payment mechanisms through which a regular customer can pay are flybys points or credit card, where a 1.5% surcharge will apply on credit cards. Regardless of the type of customer, the reservation system should allow each customer to search, modify, pay and finalise air tickets. 2. Travel Service Reservation System The information system should offer both types of customers the following non-flight facilities.  Hotel accommodation  Car rental  Leisure packages  Travel insurance  Airport pick and drop service Customer can enquire and later book these services using the travel information system. It is therefore necessary for a system to display maximum information for all travel services. For example, if customer is searching for a hire car, then maximum information should be displayed about the car such as price, model, capacity, pickup and drop off locations, dates & times, etc. Travel services companies, in this example car rental companies, provide all related information about these services. Once the customer decide about the travel services, the payment should be made by the following mechanisms.  Ordinary customer can pay through cash or card, where a 1.5% surcharge will apply on credit cards.  Regular customer can pay through flybys points or credit card, where a 1.5% surcharge will apply on credit cards. The system should also allow customers to change the order by adding or removing non-flight facilities. The information about the customer’s orders and payments has to be available to the other systems including accounting and finance, and sales and marketing to generate financial ledgers and sales reports. 3. Human Resource Management System The Human Resource Management system is required to provide the following functions.  Benefits administration  Payroll system Recruitment and training  Performance analysis and review Brief information on these aspects are listed below. a. Benefits administration The information system should be capable to offer and manage different types of benefits to in-house employees. For instance, health insurance, compensation and profit sharing. b. Payroll The information system should manage employee’s payroll by gathering data on employee time and attendance, calculating taxes deduction, schedule periodic pay transfer to bank or cheques and employee group certificates. c. Recruiting and training The information system should capture recruitment related information, such as listing available positions, submit and track application, withdraw application, available training programs, training schedules, and monitor employee’s performance. d. Performance record and appraisal The system should be capable to evaluate employee’s performance at a regular interval of time, let say after every 3, 6 and 12 months. Thereafter, appraisals will be offered to those employees who achieve high performance score. 4. Accounting and Finance System Accounting and Finance system is required to handle the financial transaction for the airline company. This system connects the customers’ payments and refund information as well as use to prepare financial reports for auditing on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, bi-annually, and annually basis. The system should also be able to provide real-time financial information and control across people for billing, general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, project accounting, and fixed assets. 5. Sales and Marketing System All activities related to flight bookings will be sent to the sales and marketing department for strategic purposes. This system is linked with the other systems including flight reservation system, travel service reservation system, and accounting and finance system. It is important to record detail information about any incoming and outgoing payments, as well as generate reports about payments on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, bi-annually, and annually basis.