Unisys Corporation today announced that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has gone live with the first phase of a contract valued at $22 million over five years to implement the first major outsourcing operation for the IATA Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) data processing services in the Asia/Pacific Region. Unisys data processing services, based in Australia, will centralize and consolidate airline ticket billing information from 10 countries in the Asia/Pacific region, reducing costs and improving billing processes for airlines. The cutover to Unisys data processing services has just begun with Australia. A phased implementation rollout will be completed in 2001.
IATA Settlement Systems is currently undergoing a major transformation in airline passenger ticketing and billing procedures. Part of IATA`s overall strategy is to regionalize, consolidate and outsource data processing activities, reducing its 36 data processing suppliers worldwide to 3. Unisys will handle data processing services for 10 operations in the Asia/Pacific region, which includes Australia, French Overseas Territories, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Micronesia, New Zealand (including Cook Islands and Fiji), Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
"The appointment of Unisys signals the first stage of the consolidation exercise to streamline data processing services and software throughout IATA Distribution Services," said Tom Murphy, managing director, IATA Distribution Services. "Unisys gives IATA access to current and future technologies to change our business processes. We look forward to working with the Unisys team to facilitate a seamless transition for our customers and staff."
Unisys will centralize the data processing function for all 10 operations in Sydney, Australia, and will work closely with IATA to streamline present practices through a business performance improvement program. "As a new customer, IATA represents yet another piece of the IT puzzle that Unisys solves for the airline industry," said Dennis Christ, head of Unisys Global Transportation. "We look forward to assisting IATA and the participating airlines in this exciting project and to helping IATA capitalize on Unisys broad expertise in the airline business."
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IATA
IATA is the trade association of the world`s scheduled international airline industry. Originally founded in 1919, it now groups together nearly 270 airlines, including the world`s largest. These airlines fly over 95 percent of all international scheduled air traffic.
The commercial objective of IATA is to ensure that people, freight and mail can move around the vast global airline network as easily as if they were on a single airline in a single country. The operational objective of IATA is to ensure that Members` aircraft can operate safely, securely, efficiently and economically - under clearly defined and understood rules. IATA works towards these objectives through representation, through standardization and through marketing a range of products and services for the travel industry.
IATA is the collective voice of the world`s fastest growing transport sector - which, in turn, is part of the world`s largest industry - travel and tourism. For more information concerning IATA, access the IATA web-site at www.iata.org. Specific information concerning the Distribution Services division can be found at www.iata.org/ids/news/<http://www.iata.org/ids/news/.
Unisys
Unisys is an e-business solutions company whose 36,000 employees help customers in 100 countries apply information technology to seize opportunities and overcome challenges of the Internet economy. Unisys people integrate and deliver the solutions, services, platforms and network infrastructure required by business and government to transform their organizations for success in this new era. The company offers a rich portfolio of Unisys e-@ction Solutions for e-business based on its expertise in vertical industry solutions, network services, outsourcing, systems integration and multivendor support, coupled with enterprise-class server and related technologies. The primary vertical markets Unisys serves worldwide include financial services, transportation, communications, publishing and commercial sectors, as well as the public sector, including federal government customers. Unisys is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, in the Greater Philadelphia area. For more information on the company, access the Unisys home page on the World Wide Web at www.unisys.com. Investor information can be found at www.unisys.com/investor.