CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS FLYING NONSTOP...
3
SUCCESS STORY HIGHLIGHTS Cathay Pacific Airways finds nonstop stability and cost savings with Ingres Database, an enterprise open source database. In 2007, with the help of Ingres open source technology, Cathay Pacific transported 23.3 million passengers and 1.6 million tons of cargo – reaping numerous accolades for “best airline” in the Asia/Pacific region. With open source technology from Ingres, Cathay Pacific ensures that passengers and their baggage travel as smoothly as possible from one destination to the next. CHALLENGE When arriving at Hong Kong International Airport from Los Angles, aſter an unexpected plane change in Tokyo, you are relieved to discover that your luggage arrives with you. e behind-the- scenes efficiency of your airline, Cathay Pacific Airways, is due in part to the Ingres Database, an enterprise open source database. e airline’s Station Control System (SCS) application runs on top of Ingres, coordinating all the operation activities among Cathay Pacific teams to ensure its passengers get the best service. Founded in 1946, Cathay Pacific Airways is Hong Kong’s largest airline, employing more than 26,000 employees worldwide and offering cargo and passenger services to 120 destinations in 37 countries and territories. Cathay Pacific is known for its outstanding customer service and on-time delivery, consistently receiving top awards and recognition as the best airline serving Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific. e carrier is committed to offering quality products and the best possible service to its customers around the world. With extensive passenger and cargo activity at its hub in Hong Kong, the company required a stable and easy-to-manage method for coordinating operation activities among different teams at Hong Kong International Airport, with the goal of ensuring the best possible service to passengers. SOLUTION Cathay Pacific looked to the Ingres Database to support its mission-critical station control system. SCS is responsible for the scheduling, assignment, and coordination of all passenger aircraſt on the ground at the airport. It acts as the “conductor,” ensuring that people, processes, and facilities CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS FLYING NONSTOP WITH INGRES Customer Cathay Pacific Airways Industry Airline Challenge Maintaining top customer service Solution Ingres Database Ingres Open Road Benefits Stable, easy-to-manage database Cost-savings and low total cost of ownership Superior customer service
Transcript of CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS FLYING NONSTOP...
SUCCESS STORY
HIGHLIGHTS
Cathay Pacifi c Airways fi nds nonstop stability and cost savings with Ingres Database, an enterprise open source database. In 2007, with the help of Ingres open source technology, Cathay Pacifi c transported 23.3 million passengers and 1.6 million tons of cargo – reaping numerous accolades for “best airline” in the Asia/Pacifi c region. With open source technology from Ingres, Cathay Pacifi c ensures that passengers and their baggage travel as smoothly as possible from one destination to the next.
CHALLENGE
When arriving at Hong Kong International Airport from Los Angles, aft er an unexpected plane change in Tokyo, you are relieved to discover that your luggage arrives with you. Th e behind-the-scenes effi ciency of your airline, Cathay Pacifi c Airways, is due in part to the Ingres Database, an enterprise open source database. Th e airline’s Station Control System (SCS) application runs on top of Ingres, coordinating all the operation activities among Cathay Pacifi c teams to ensure its passengers get the best service.
Founded in 1946, Cathay Pacifi c Airways is Hong Kong’s largest airline, employing more than 26,000 employees worldwide and off ering cargo and passenger services to 120 destinations in 37 countries and territories. Cathay Pacifi c is known for its outstanding customer service and on-time delivery, consistently receiving top awards and recognition as the best airline serving Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacifi c. Th e carrier is committed to off ering quality products and the best possible service to its customers around the world.
With extensive passenger and cargo activity at its hub in Hong Kong, the company required a stable and easy-to-manage method for coordinating operation activities among diff erent teams at Hong Kong International Airport, with the goal of ensuring the best possible service to passengers.
SOLUTION
Cathay Pacifi c looked to the Ingres Database to support its mission-critical station control system. SCS is responsible for the scheduling, assignment, and coordination of all passenger aircraft on the ground at the airport. It acts as the “conductor,” ensuring that people, processes, and facilities
CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS FLYING NONSTOP WITH INGRES
Customer
Cathay Pacifi c Airways
Industry
Airline
Challenge
Maintaining top customer
service
SolutionIngres DatabaseIngres Open Road
Benefi ts
Stable, easy-to-managedatabase
Cost-savings and low totalcost of ownership
Superior customer service
“The Ingres enterprise
database has allowed us
to incorporate a stable,
highly functional, and
fl exible application into our
system with ease – and at
an affordable price point
that lowers our total cost of
ownership.”
– Don Lau
Cathay Pacifi c Airways
are assigned to the correct tasks at the correct time. As fl ights arrive and depart on diff erent schedules, SCS ensures that every fl ight is assigned to a gate, gate personnel are alerted to fl ights arriving early or late, baggage-handling facilities are provisioned, and so on.
Th e SCS system’s outstanding fl exibility is the key to its success. Th e system takes inputs from over 20 other automated systems at the airport, makes critical scheduling decisions, then alerts the operators of those systems to the actions that are required for the smooth fl ow and management of aircraft on the ground.
Cathay Pacifi c chose Ingres because, according to Don Lau, administrator at Cathay Pacifi c, “Th e Ingres Database is stable, reliable, and easy to manage.” Lau adds, “It’s an internal system, but one of the most important systems for our airport operations. Our users are pleased by the stability of the system.”
Cathay Pacifi c requires only two IT people to develop and maintain its mission-critical Station Control System. Th e Ingres Database is built on an open source model, freeing customers from costly and cumbersome proprietary databases solutions.
Cathay Pacifi c upgraded to the open source enterprise version of the Ingres Database in April of 2007. “We were pleasantly surprised at how smoothly the upgrade process went,” says Lau. “Ingres has done a good job of maintaining compatibility between its older
and latest versions. We can take advantage of new features in the latest versions with minimal changes to our existing code.”
In addition to the Ingres Database, the company uses Ingres OpenROAD, an open source solution for rapid application development and fl exible deployment. OpenROAD-based applications are deployed on client terminals located throughout the airport and provide real-time visibility into the movement of ground-based aircraft to airport, airline, and security staff .
Lau notes that in the past Cathay Pacifi c has taken advantage of Ingres Enterprise Support Services. “We found the Ingres support services to be quite helpful,” he says. “Our Ingres support engineers have been working with the product for many years, so their experience spans both the legacy and the new Ingres technologies.”
RESULTSIngres Database helps Cathay Pacifi c ensure a seamless and successful experience for passengers traveling through the Hong Kong International Airport.
In 2007, Cathay Pacifi c transported 23.3 million passengers and 1.6 million tons of cargo. Although these numbers sound daunting, Cathay Pacifi c continues to maintain top quality service ratings and receive industry-wide recognition – in part because of the smoothness of its internal operations, and a stable, easy-to-manage database solution.
In 2007 alone, among many other awards, Cathay Pacifi c received the following accolades:
SUCCESS STORY
INGRES CORPORATION : 500 ARGUELLO STREET : SUITE 200 : REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA 94063
PHONE +1.650.587.5500 : FAX +1.650.587.5550 : www.ingres.com : For more information, contact [email protected]
About Ingres Corporation
Ingres Corporation is a leading provider of open source database management software. Built on over 25 years of technology investment, Ingres is a leader
in software and service innovation, providing the enterprise with proven reliability combined with the value and fl exibility of open source. The company’s
partnerships with leading open source providers further enhance the Ingres value proposition. Ingres has major development, sales, and support centers
throughout the world, supporting thousands of customers in the United States and internationally.
©2008 Ingres Corporation. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. Ingres is a trademark of Ingres Corporation in the United States and in other countries.
All other trademarks, trade names, service marks, and logos referenced herein belong to their respective companies. CS-605A
• Best Asia/Pacifi c Airline MRO Operation
• Airline of the Year
• Best Airline
• Best Cargo Carrier – Asia Award
• Best Transpacifi c Airline
• Most Punctual Airline between London and Hong Kong (by Air Travel magazine, for a third consecutive year)
Clearly Cathay Pacifi c does many things right – one of which is to rely on Ingres to ensure that passengers travel as smoothly as possible from one destination to the next.
Lau says, “Th e Ingres enterprise database has allowed us to incorporate a stable, highly functional, and fl exible application into our system with ease – and at an aff ordable price point that lowers our total cost of ownership.”
Cost savings is also a key benefi t. “A major benefi t of working with the Ingres database is cost savings,” says Lau. “We were able to realize signifi cant cost savings with Ingres through its open source commercial model, which does not require an upfront license purchase, and by minimizing our application migration costs.”
