Design And Implementation Of An Airline Seat Reservations And Ticketing System

Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study

Online Air Ticketing is a kind of user assistance where customers can book tickets for flight online. This is an easy method which saves a lot of time. Airline Reservation Systems were first introduced in the late 1950s as relatively simple standalone systems to control flight inventory, maintain flight schedules, seat assignments and aircraft loading. The modern Airline Reservation System is comprehensive suite of products to provide a system that assists with a variety of airline management tasks and service customer needs from the time of initial reservation through completion of the flight. One of the most common modes of travel is traveling by air. Customers who wish to travel by air nowadays have a wide variety of airlines, and a range of timings to choose from. Nowadays competition is so fierce between airlines that there are lot of discounts and a lot of luxuries given to customers that will give an edge to that particular airline.

The World Wide Web has become tremendously popular over the last four years, and currently most of the airlines have made provision for online reservation of their flights. The Internet has become a major resource for people looking for making reservations online without the hassle of meeting travel agents. Reservation is the written record or promise of an arrangement by which accommodations are secured in advance. 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 cars rental.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The current system of airline reservation is the manual method where a customer has to physical go to airport to book a flight. This current system is slow, time consuming and it is very difficult for each person to book through office agents. Users inquire about the tickets through phones and it is very difficult for the user to remember all the details that they received through phones. It is also difficult to calculate how many people registered and how many seats on a particular plane are vacant. This requires quite a lot of time and wastage of money as it requires quite lot of manpower to do. Among other shortcomings, the existing airline reservation system has the following shortcomings associated with it.

Customers are not able to make cancellations after making reservation in an event where they are not able to travel again.

The manual method of going to the airline desk to book flight is now obsolete and tasking.

The airline sites are not open to customers suggestions and complaint.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The main objective of this study is to design a web-based reservation system which will automate the processes of airline ticket reservation, booking and airline management hence minimize errors resulting from manual system operations. To achieve the stated objective, the following specific objectives were laid out;

To study the current system identifying its inefficiencies

To design an online airline reservation information system to facilitate online bookingand flight scheduling

Provision of an option that will enable a passenger(s) to cancel his/her flight due to whim or impulse.

Online access to passenger’s suggestions and complaints.

A system that will enable online news publications for flight operators accessible to customers.

1.4 Scope of the Study

The developed system is web-based hence will run on a browser which in turn requires an internet connection. This system will facilitate online booking; keep customer records, provides an online menu on flight schedules, flight destinations and their prices, show alternative links to other partner airlines and will have page dedicated to customer queries and replies. The system excludes catering for calculating staff salary and other management issue. For the sake of this project, a localhost server will be used instead of an online hosting system.

1.5 Significance of the Study

From the viewpoint of the airline; the system will provide among other things the following;

Minimize repetitive work done by the system administrator and reservation clerks. Maintain consistency among different access modes, e.g. by phone, by web, at the information desk and across different physical locations.

Maintain customer information in case of emergency, e.g. flight cancellation due to inclement weather. Minimize the number of vacant seats on a flight and maximize flight capacity utilization

Reduce effort and frustration for travelers in scheduling a trip, especially by reducing the search effort for the flight they need to take. In addition, the outcome of this study will provide a basis for developing the appropriate approach to the problems associated with air traveling operations in relation to Airline Reservation Systems.

Also, this research work will be beneficial to those who travel a lot by air as it will reduce the stress involved in the manual system of reservation. For researchers, this work will serve as a reference point for researches.

1.6 Definition of Key Terms

Airline Industry (Air Transport Industry):

This is an area of commerce that uses aircraft to transport people, cargo, and mail. The air transport industry encompasses flights of common carriers (government-certified companies that offer cargo and passenger services to the public) and general aviation (private aircraft used for recreation or business

Reservation:

The written record or promise of an arrangement by which accommodations are secured in advance.

System:

This is any collection of component elements that work together to perform a task. In computer science, System is used in a variety of contexts. A computer System is a hardware system consisting of a microprocessor and allied chips and circuitry, plus an input device (keyboard, mouse, disk drive), an output device (monitor, disk drive), and any peripheral devices (printer, modem).

Network:

In computer science, a network is a system used to link two or more computers. Network users are able to share files, printers, and other resources; send electronic messages; and run programs on other computers Computerize: To control a function, process, or creation by a computer