Airline Reservation System (Synopsis)

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Progressive Education Society’s Modern college of engineering, Shivajinagar, Pune-5.

Project Synopsis:

Airline Reservation System (ARS)

BY: Sohel Khan

and

Sumit Attri

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INTRODUCTION Earlier, the Airline Reservation Systems (ARS) used to be standalone systems. Each airline had its own system, disconnected from other airlines or ticket agents, and usable only by a designated number of airline employees. Travel agents in the 1970s pushed for access to the airlines' systems. Today, air travel information is linked, stored, and retrieved by a network of Computer Reservations Systems (CRS), accessible by multiple airlines and travel agents. The global distribution system (GDS) makes for an even larger web of airline information, not only merging the buying and selling of tickets for multiple airlines, but also making the systems accessible to consumers directly. GDS portals and gateways on the Web allow consumers to purchase tickets directly, select seats, and even book hotels and rental cars. Airline Reservation System (ARS) in conjunction with Global Distribution System (GDS) has led to ease of airline ticketing, flight scheduling and also provided a means for customers to access and book flights from their homes. It has also increased the speed with which information about customers are retrieved and handled for flight scheduling tasks. Airline Reservation System (ARS) is a computerized system used to store and retrieve information and conduct transactions related to air travel. The systems was originally designed and operated by airlines, but were later extended for the use of travel agencies. Major ARS operations that book and sell tickets for multiple airlines are known as Global Distribution Systems (GDS). Airlines have divested most of their direct holdings to dedicated GDS companies, who make their systems accessible to consumers through Internet gateways. Modern GDSes typically allow users to book hotel rooms and rental cars as well as airline tickets. It is obvious that everything that is sustainable would have to go through advancement. In science and technology, the desire for improvement is a constant subject which triggers advancements. This is visible in every ramification and the airline industry is not an exemption. Airline Reservation Systems (ARS) used to be standalone systems. Each airline had its own system, disconnected from other airlines or ticket agents, and usable only by a designated number of airline employees. Travel agents in the

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1970s pushed for access to the airlines' systems. Today, air travel information is linked, stored, and retrieved by a network of Computer Reservations Systems (CRS), accessible by multiple airlines and travel agents. The global distribution system (GDS) makes for an even larger web of airline information, not only merging the buying and selling of tickets for multiple airlines, but also making the systems accessible to consumers directly. GDS portals and gateways on the Web allow consumers to purchase tickets directly, select seats, and even book hotels and rental cars.

Scope of the System: This Project is not only restricted to Computer Reservation Systems (ARSes), but also other systems dedicated to the optimal performance in the airline industry; airline agencies and their customers inclusive. The outcome of this study will provide a basis for developing the appropriate approach to the problems associated with air travelling operations in relation to Airline Reservation Systems. This presentation will be beneficial to all those who make use of Airline Reservation Systems (ATRSs), flight operators, air travelling operators, travel agents and airline agencies. The project is aimed at exposing the relevance and importance of Airline Reservation Systems (ARS). It is projected towards enhancing the relationship between customers and airline agencies through the use of ARSs, thereby easing the flight ticketing and selling process and all air traveling operations.

Need of Airlines system A few factors that direct us to develop a new system are given below -: 1) Faster System 2) Accuracy 3) Reliability 4) Informative 5) Reservations and cancellations from anywhere to any place

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Drawbacks of the existing system: The Drawbacks of the existing system can be categorised as that of manual system and a fully automated system. Manual system: The system is very time consuming and lazy. This system is more prone to errors and sometimes the approach to various problems is unstructured. Automated system: With the advent of latest technology if we do not update our system then our business result in losses gradually with time. The automated systems contain the tools of latest trend i.e. computers printers, fax, Internet etc. The systems with this technology are very fast, accurate and user-friendly. But these systems cannot be trusted in the case of security of the data and a supervisor is always required to check the software for version updates and maintenance. But those systems need to be updated on a regular basis so as to maintain the integrity.

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Hardware and Software requirements: For the implementation of my project the minimum Hardware & Software requirements are as follows:

Minimum Hardware Requirements: Pentium III @500 MHz or above, RAM 256 MB HD space required: Space required for installation: 500 MB. Space required after installation: 6 GB CD Rom drive 24x

Software Requirements: Windows 2000/2000 server, XP enterprise, Vista or Windows 7 Microsoft office Access/ Oracle 8 or above Microsoft office word Microsoft .net framework

Data flow diagram / Class diagram:

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Limitations of the new System to be implemented: Even though the aim of the Developing team is to develop a software that is easy to use and user friendly in nature but the level of abstraction can only be maintained up to a certain extent and eventually properly trained user is recommended over a naïve one administer the software. The Software may have to undergo rigorous testing before the actual implementation because the scale on which it has to be implemented is vast and regular updates of the software will be available to reduce the possibility of the existence of bugs in the system. Compatibility issues may arise in the system regarding its functional behavior on various platforms of operating system and the developing team will be working on the software to keep it stable on every OS platform possible. The database storage and retrieval shall be managed by either Microsoft access or Oracle 8 database management softwares depending on their compatibility and ease of use with keeping the features and need of the system in mind. The database may still have issues persisting like redundancy of data which will be addressed by the developing team in the later versions of the software.

Bibliography and References: Wikipedia page for ARS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airline_Reservation_System Further reading: Winston, Clifford, "The Evolution of the Airline Industry" "The Origins and Development of Airline Control Program/TPF", http://www.ambriana.com/IT201_website/TPF_history.pdf