JetBlue and WestJet: A Tale of Two IS Projects
Nathan Nemitz
IT205
October 25, 2013
Terra Terrall
JetBlue and WestJet: A Tale of Two IS Projects
1. How important is the reservation system at airlines such as WestJet and JetBlue. How does it impact operational activities and decision making?
Reservation systems at airlines are important because it allows customers to book their tickets online, choose a seat, pay for their tickets and check-in for their flights. Online reservation systems also allow for code-sharing plans which allows for information sharing and communication between airline companies that cooperate with each other for flight purposes.() With the case of WestJet there was a great amount of dissatisfaction with their system while they were going through a planned upgrade of their reservation system. Reservation systems have impacted operational activities and decision making by making it easier to maintain accounts with other airlines as well as with internal processes between departments. Since information is stored in the system airline companies are able to look at customer history to determine what promotions work for their company and what does not. Also to help plan destinations and routes that have shown to be the most popular in order to gain the most profit. However if the systems are not working as they should for example they are slow or freeze on customers it can damage the company’s reputation and they will lose clients. (Laudon, 2013)
2. Evaluate the risks of the projects to upgrade the reservation systems of WestJet and JetBlue and key risk factors.
The risks of upgrading the online reservation systems of WestJet and JetBlue are would be that something would happen such as a website crashing and losing your customers. However that risk can seem small when your systems are unable to handle the amount of data being pushed upon them. So both WestJet and JetBlue had the choice to do nothing and run the risk of not being able to...