BCBP Campaigns successfully completed

The StB team has now successfully completed the campaigns of the 1st half of 2008 towards the target of all airlines BCBP capable by the end of this year.

Which were the objectives of this semester?
In January 2008, 112 airlines had already implemented BCBP and 45 airlines had plans to implement before the end of the year. Still 59 airlines had still no plans to implement BCBP in 2008.

Additionally, some of the first airlines that implemented BCBP were still using an old format of BCBP, not aligned with the latest standard approved in the Resolution 792, that contains a unique format enabling multiple segments and multiple carriers in the same boarding document: the M format. Therefore, over the last few months, IATAs efforts have been focused on achieving two objectives:

• Ensure all airlines are committed and have a plan to implement BCBP by end 2008.
• Ensure all airlines use the BCBP approved format (M format) by end 2008.

How did StB approach these objectives?
The StB team organised two campaigns to mobilise airlines in order to meet the objectives of the phase:

• BCBP Vertical Campaign for Red Airlines, involving 60 airlines that by March 08 had still no plans to meet the 2008 deadline.
• BCBP Vertical Campaign for S format, involving 20 airlines that had still not updated to the latest standard by end May 2008.
• For both objectives, IATA engaged the respective airlines, raised awareness on the consequences and supported the airlines to develop plans to implement the industry mandate.

The Results

• In the first campaign, 72% of the targeted airlines implemented BCBP or gave a forecast live date for implementation in 2008. Remaining airlines were officially escalated to their top management, most of which have subsequently committed to a date in 2008.
• In the second campaign, 80% of targeted airlines confirmed their plans to migrate their boarding passes to the latest BCBP standard. The remainder will continue to be supported by IATA until they migrate to the new standard.

For further details, please view the BCBP campaigns report. Learn also more on the the project benefits in the latest BCBP vision and mandate. Keep up to date with the latest project status on the BCBP site. Project news, events, and helpful materials – like upcoming BCBP events - are updated regularly.

Airlines, airports discover compatibility through the BCBP Matchmaker

The BCBP Matchmaker allows airlines and airports to plan the move to bar coded boarding passes. In the five months since it was launched, the matchmaker site has registered 115 airlines. View the BCBP matchmaker scorecard for more details.

Airlines and airports can input where they are BCBP capable and exchange information with each other. Here’s an example of a recent conversation between an airline and an airport:

Airline: “We require 2D barcode printing and scanning at your airport. Could you let me know if there are any plans to migrate to 2DBC in the near future?"

Airport: “Yes we are planning to upgrade our CUTE system for using 2D barcodes (printing and scanning). We are in touch with our software producer at the moment. The upgrade will be done in the fourth quarter of 2008.”

Airlines and airports can register for free at www.iata.org/bcbpmatchmaker.

BCBP strategic partners now selling only 2D barcode compliant products

In preparation of the 100% Bar Coded Boarding Pass (BCBP) mandate in 2010, the entire industry is moving towards bar coded boarding passes. The project – which offers the industry immediate savings of over US$ 500 million annually - has become all the more relevant in today’s extraordinarily difficult business climate.

In a major step towards preparing the industry for the move to BCBP, all strategic partners who were manufacturing magnetic stripe equipment are now offering only 2D bar code capable equipment to their customers. Airlines, airports and ground handlers now have a range of products to choose from as they upgrade their equipment to become BCBP capable. More information is available here.

Air France-KLM joins the Baggage Improvement Programme (BIP)

IATA’s Baggage Improvement Programme (BIP) welcomes Air France-KLM into its pilot phase as it sets out to identify and validate solutions to baggage mishandling – a US$ 3.8 billion problem for the industry. Air France-KLM joins Delta, Emirates, LAN Chile and Lufthansa as leaders in addressing industry mishandling rates.

BIP will address all causes of mishandling by looking at infrastructure, information technology, people and processes. As a participant in the pilot phase, Air France-KLM will benefit from the latest techniques in baggage management and the opportunity to select one or more projects to reduce mishandling.

“Reducing baggage mishandling represents a potential goldmine of cost savings for the industry,” says Andrew Price, IATA BIP Project Manager. “As airlines look for ways to continue to operate in this high oil price environment, baggage processes must be part of this examination. Mishandled bags are a very large, controllable cost, and we can help reduce that.”

For more information on BIP, visit www.iata.org/stbsupportportal/newprojects.htm or send an email to bip@iata.org.

The IATA Strategic Partnership Programme: Working together to reduce cost, improve service

The IATA Strategic Partnerships programme was created in 1990 to bring together IATA Member airlines with their industry suppliers in the pursuit of one common objective: the efficiency of the air transport industry.

Now, 18 years later, the programme has expanded from the one area of involvement, Passenger and Airport Services, to encompass some 35 areas. By participating in the work groups and task forces, members of the Strategic Partnerships programme, can influence many of the initiatives pursued by IATA and its Member airlines while getting better acquainted with their airline customers’ needs.

With the StB Preferred Partner category, Strategic Partners also participate in the Simplifying the Business (StB) initiatives. With their relevant expertise, StB Preferred Partners work with IATA, Member airlines and other StB Preferred Partners to support the planning and implementation phases of the StB projects.

Currently, 26 StB Preferred Partners are active in the various StB projects now in progress, including two new initiatives: Baggage Improvement Programme (BIP) and Fast Travel.

We particularly wish to thank those StB Preferred Partners who were involved in the successful completion of the StB e-ticketing (ET) project.

• Amadeus IT Group, S.A
• Hahn Air Systems GmbH
• IBM Corporation
• Kale Consultants Ltd
• Lufthansa Systems AG
• SITA
• Travel Technology Interactive
• Travelport GDS
• TravelSky Technology Limited
• Unisys Corporation

For more on these and other StB Preferred Partners, please visit www.iata.org/sp/stb_sp_list. We invite you to view the Strategic Partnerships programme flash presentation. For more information, please e-mail us at partnership@iata.org.

Contact us to share your comments, questions and ideas!

The StB Global Team