American Airlines has hired ITA Software to help it use technology to offer more customized products to its passengers.

Over the next year, Fort Worth-based American will roll out various computer programs that will enable the airline to better manage its inventory and do more targeted offers of products, like hotel rooms to a passenger whose flight may be canceled.

“It allows us to take any combination of services that we sell, whether it’s carrying a bag for you, accessing the Admirals Club, purchasing Wi-Fi or food during your flight, and allow us to package those things more effectively and quickly and target them to an individual or group,” said American’s chief information officer, Monte Ford.

Financial details of the contract were not disclosed. Google has agreed to acquire ITA for $700 million, but Ford said that presented no obstacles to working with ITA.

American chose ITA because it could create a software platform designed for all distribution channels and could be modified to work with new technology, Ford said. He added that global distribution system companies, like Sabre and Galileo, also bid on the project.

American and online travel agencies, including Sabre, are locked in a dispute related to fees that the distribution systems charge the airline for each ticket or product booked through those systems. American has said it is trying to lower its distribution costs by having customers buy tickets and other products directly from the airline.

Read more: http://blogs.star-telegram.com/sky_talk/2011/01/american-brings-in-ita-software-to-design-passenger-technology-platform.html#ixzz1AyN5T0R7

Several online travel firms have joined to fight against Google’s planned takeover of an airline booking software company.

According to key industry players, Google’s proposed $700 million buy-out of ITA Software Inc could pose a threat to competition in the sector. The group has said that the deal would lead to less innovation and higher prices within the online travel market.

Expedia Inc, Farelogix, Kayak.com and Sabre Holdings, which owns Travelocity, have joined in a coalition against the search engine giants acquisition of the software company. Dubbed FairSearch.org, the coalition has asked the Justice Department to challenge Google’s proposition.

According to Kayak CEO and co-founder, Steve Hafner, ITA’s technology has become the software of choice for many online travel industry players, including many of Google’s competitors for air travel searches.

Opponents of the deal say that Google would limit the access of ITA’s software to companies like Microsoft and others, which help power many of the online travel firms’ websites.

Google is arguing, however, that since it is not in direct competition with ITA Software, the deal is legal. It also stated that there are those in the travel industry that support the move.

Adam Kovacevich, a spokesman for Google, said that the acquisition would allow Google to provide more useful answers for users searching for flights on its search engine. He also added that the bid would increase traffic to online travel agencies websites meaning more potential customers.

Source:http://www.cheaphotelbookings.com/news/travel-firms-oppose-google-takeover-of-ita-software/31550.html

ITA Software picked up Student Universe.com as a client, its first new customer, albeit a relatively small one, since Google announced July 1 its intent to buy ITA.
The Waltham, Mass.-based travel agency, which negotiates private student fares from airlines and sells flights on a retail basis, as well, will use ITA’s QPX solution for low-fare search pricing and shopping.
Sabre had been providing inventory and search functionality to StudentUniverse, which says it’s the largest student online travel agency in the U.S., and ITA has taken over the search role, says Atle Skalleberg, the travel agency’s executive vice president.
“ITA will do a very big part of our volume when it comes to searching, pricing and shopping,” Skalleberg says.
He adds that StudentUniverse already had been negotiating with ITA before the Google acquisition announcement in July, but signed an agreement with ITA only recently.
Skalleberg declined to specify the length of the deal with ITA.
Asked whether ITA had given StudentUniverse assurances about ongoing access to the latest QPX enhancements if the Google deal closes, Skalleberg says the company would not have signed the deal unless it felt comfortable that ITA technology would continue to support future development.
Skalleberg says the ITA implementation was somewhat complex because the vast majority of the student travel agency’s inventory is private fares

Source:-http://www.tnooz.com/2010/10/27/news/student-universe-supplements-sabre-with-ita-software-for-search/

ITA Software, Inc., a leading provider of innovative solutions for the travel industry, today announced US Airways has deployed QPX(TM) across its call centers to further decrease transaction times and improve the overall customer experience across its website and reservations call centers.

US Airways has been using QPX on www.usairways.com since 2001 and ReShop(TM) in its call centers since early 2009. Now, US Airways is taking advantage of the rich features QPX offers in its call centers to provide improved call handling and customer service capabilities.

“There’s no doubt the addition of QPX to our call centers creates greater operational efficiencies. But customer satisfaction continues to rise dramatically as well,” said Kerry Hester, senior vice president, operations planning and support, US Airways. “We now have a more consistent brand experience, and we’ve made it easier for our customers to quickly find the information they need regardless of how they contact us.”

“US Airways is a valued, long-time customer and an excellent example of an airline that has taken advantage of ITA’s complete airfare pricing and shopping solution to ease the overall shopping experience for customers and agents,” said Gianni Marostica, chief commercial officer, ITA Software.

Source:http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/press-release/lcc_us-airways-deploys-ita-software-s-qpx-in-call-centers-1189607.html