Airtran Airways It Infrastructure

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Airtran Airways IT Infrastructure

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Table of Contents

Brief Overview Pgs. 3 - 4

Technologies Used Pgs. 4 - 9

Business Strategy Pgs. 9 - 11

Conclusion Pgs. 11 - 12

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Brief Overview

Airtran Airways is one of the nation's largest low-fare airlines employing more than 6,700 professional Crew Members and operating over 600 flights a day to over 40 destinations. The airline's hub is located at Hartsfield - Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world's busiest airport by passenger volume, while their corporate offices are located in Orlando, Florida. Airtran Airways, a subsidiary of Airtran Holdings, is the world's largest operator of the Boeing 717 and has America's youngest all-Boeing fleet. The airline has recently added the Boeing 737-700, which is one of the most fuel efficient and environmentally friendly aircraft flying today. Airtran Airways is a low-fare airline designed for business travelers, offering Business class, new planes with XM Satellite Radio and EasyFit Overhead Bins, assigned seating, and a frequent flyer program called A+ Rewards.

Airtran Airways was established in June 1993 and started operations on October 26, 1993 as Conquest Sun Airlines. The name was changed to Airtran Airways in August 1994. In July 1997 Airways Corporation announced a merger with ValuJet Airlines to put behind it the May 1996 accident of ValuJet Flight 592, which crashed into the Florida Everglades shortly after departing Miami International Airport. On September 24, 1997 the two companies became AirTran Holdings Inc., and ValuJet was renamed AirTran Airways. Operations under the same name began on September 1, 1998.

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Joe Leonard, Chairman and CEO, heads Airtran Airways with the help of Robert Fornaro (COO) and Stan Gadek (CFO). This team has been able to bring Airtran Airways from an airline that no one knew to one of the most profitable airlines in current history. After the September 11th attacks, Airtran Airways was able to stay profitable while other airlines lost billions.

Types of Technologies Used

Airtran Airways uses numerous types of technologies throughout their organization. This paper will concentrate mostly on the type of software that the organization is using in order to cut costs and stay profitable in an industry where every penny counts. Airtran Airways uses different types of technologies at their Jacksonville Airport Station, which is also used at the various other stations throughout the United States and the Carribean.

Airtran Airways uses Dell Optiplex GX260 Workstations, which use Windows XP Professional as the operating system. Each workstation is connected to a network, which gives each workstation the ability to connect with the Internet and with Airtran Airways own Intranet. An Intranet is a private network that uses Internet Protocols and network connectivity to securely share part of an organization's information or operations with its employees. The company's Intranet has corporate phone numbers, the company's SOM (Standard Operating Manuel), specials from other corporations like Dell, Hertz and AAA for Airtran Employees, etc. According to Wikipedia the advantages of using an Intranet are three fold. Those advantages are as follows:

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Workforce productivity: Intranets can help employees to quickly find and view Information and applications relevant to their roles and responsibilities. Via a simple-to-use web browser interface, users can access data held in any database the organization wants to make available, anytime and - subject to security provisions - from anywhere, increasing employees' ability to perform their jobs faster, more accurately, and with confidence that they have the right information. Time: With Intranets, organizations can make more information available to employees on a pull basis (i.e.: employees can link to relevant information at a time which suits them) rather than being deluged indiscriminately by emails. Communication: Intranets can serve as powerful tools for communication within an organization, vertically and horizontally (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intranet

Para. 5).

Like any low-cost carrier, Airtran Airways uses the Internet to lower its operating costs. The airline uses the Internet and their website to sell tickets, allow customers to chose their seats, and to check-in for a specific flight up to twenty-four hours in advance. Customers who want to know more about the company can log onto Airtran's website. Besides allowing customers to buy tickets and check-in, the website has corporate information, route structure, and a personal message from the CEO, Joe Leonard. The Internet has become a central part of the company's success. Airtran Airways also allows their employees to use the Internet during work time if it is being used exclusively for work. According to Harvey Watson, manager of the Jacksonville Station, "The internet allows our employees the ability to track an inbound flight, know exactly where it [the aircraft] is, and prepare accordingly for its arrival" (H. Watson, personal communication, March 29, 2005).

Airtran Airways houses their network structure at their corporate offices located at Orlando, Florida. The company has reserved a floor of their corporate

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office building exclusively for the network and their IT specialists. The company uses a dedicated T1 line for their network. All the computers throughout the United States and the Caribbean are routed through this room in Orlando.