The History of Flight Booking

Summary

The history of airline booking systems spans from the labor-intensive methods of the 1950s, using rotating shelves and index cards, to the development of semi-automated systems like Sabre in the 1960s. As the industry grew, central reservation systems (CRS) evolved, streamlining bookings, while deregulation in the 1980s led to the rise of Global Distribution Systems (GDS). The internet revolutionized the market in the 1990s, with online booking tools like Sabre and Expedia emerging. Today, mobile devices and all-in-one platforms like Google and Airbnb have transformed the travel experience, making booking simpler and more integrated than ever before.

Takeaways

• 😀 The 'Lazy Susan' rotating shelf was used in the 1950s by airlines to store flight index cards for ticket reservations.
• 😀 Airline ticketing in the 1950s was a manual process, with agents spending over an hour to issue a single ticket.
• 😀 The creation of Sabre in 1964, developed by American Airlines and IBM, revolutionized flight booking with digital data storage and faster transactions.
• 😀 Sabre was the first airline central reservation system (CRS), allowing airlines to share flight data and automate the booking process.
• 😀 By the late 1970s, all major airlines in the US and Europe had developed their own CRS systems, marking the beginning of widespread automation in flight booking.
• 😀 In the 1970s and 1980s, the introduction of CRSs in travel agencies sped up the booking process, but created new challenges due to the exclusivity of airline terminals.
• 😀 Airline deregulation in the 1980s led to more competition and prompted CRS owners to open their systems to multiple airlines.
• 😀 By the early 1980s, CRSs were charging fees to both airlines and travel agencies, leading to concerns about competitive fairness and prompting government regulation.
• 😀 The 1990s saw the rise of online booking systems, with the first online closed booking engine, Easy Sabre, launched in 1994.
• 😀 In the 2000s, mobile travel apps like Kayak and Skyscanner emerged, helping consolidate the travel market and making booking more accessible via smartphones.
• 😀 Today, travel companies aim to provide all-in-one travel tools through platforms like Google and Airbnb, with mobile devices central to the travel experience.

Q & A

What was the original purpose of the lazy Susan in airline ticketing?

The lazy Susan was originally used to store and access flight index cards, a manual system for airlines to reserve tickets in the 1950s.

How did American Airlines and IBM contribute to the evolution of flight booking systems?

In 1953, American Airlines President C.R. Smith and IBM Sales Representative R. Blair Smith met on a flight and developed the idea for Sabre, a semi-automated central reservation system (CRS) that went live in 1964.

What was the significance of the Sabre system when it was first implemented?

Sabre allowed American Airlines to store and share digital flight information across operators, drastically reducing booking times from an hour and a half to a few minutes.

How did the rise of Sabre influence other airlines and their booking systems?

After Sabre’s launch, other airlines recognized its advantages and IBM developed similar CRS systems for multiple carriers, leading to widespread automation of flight booking across the U.S. and Europe.

What challenge did travel agencies face with the booking systems in the 1970s?

Travel agencies were dealing with distribution bottlenecks, where agents had to manually access CRS terminals to book flights, often being forced to sell tickets for only one airline per terminal.

How did deregulation in the 1970s affect airline booking systems?

Deregulation and lower fuel prices allowed new airlines to enter the market, and CRS owners began permitting multiple airlines to use their systems, making it possible for distributors to access multiple carriers' information.

What were some of the issues with CRSs by the early 1980s?

CRS owners were charging airlines and travel agencies to use their systems, with some airlines like American Airlines using their CRS to prioritize their own fares and disadvantage competitors, leading to government intervention.

What significant change happened to CRSs by the end of the 1980s?

By the late 1980s, new regulations required airlines to separate from their CRS operations, leading to the creation of standalone businesses known as Global Distribution Systems (GDS), which defined the industry for years.

How did the rise of the internet impact the airline industry in the 1990s?

The internet enabled airlines to sell tickets online, and the first online booking tools and travel agencies, like Easy Sabre and Travelocity, were established. This marked the beginning of electronic ticketing and lower distribution costs.

What role did mobile apps play in the 2000s for the airline industry?

In the 2000s, mobile applications like Kayak and Skyscanner emerged, offering users the ability to book flights and travel information via smartphones, starting the era of mobile travel booking.