Business Information Technologies Committee News

BIT Committee to Hold Virtual Committee Meeting

July 2009 – Due to the success of the winter virtual committee meeting and the continuing budgetary cutbacks that many airports are experiencing, the BIT Committee will hold its summer committee meeting via Webex.  

 

What: 2009 BIT Summer Committee Meeting
When: July 22-23, for two (2) hours each day starting at 1:00 PM EDT (12:00 PM CDT, 11:00 AM MDT, 10:00 AM PDT) 

 

Stay tuned for the meeting specifics and instructions on how to register and join the meeting.

 

The CUPPS Process Continues

May 2009 – The Common Use Passenger Processing System (CUPPS) recommended practice (RP) is a complete overhaul of the Common Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE) standard which has not been updated since 1994.  These standards are created and adopted by the industry to ensure a standardized platform for common-use agent-facing check-in systems at worldwide airports.  A common-use agent-facing system permits airports to employ a single passenger check-in station for multiple airlines, allowing greater flexibility in the use of many airports’ limited terminal space.

 

The CUTE standard was originally created and adopted by IATA in 1984.  The need for the current update was recognized at the 2003 Seattle Summit.  At the meeting IATA and ATA chartered an industry-wide group to completely overhaul and re-write the standard.  Samuel Ingalls of Las Vegas’ McCarran International  Airport was tapped to chair the group while Bill Heppner of Alaska Airlines and Thomas Jeske of Lufthansa Airlines are co-vice chairs.  ACI, recognizing the importance of the project, has been involved from the beginning and created an adoption process for it’s own set of RPs.

 

The CUPPS working group is not only made up of airlines and airports but also includes aviation information technology developers and manufacturers.  More than 250 individual participants representing more than 100 organizations, including such organizations as the airframe manufacturers (Boeing and Airbus) and TSA, have been involved at some point in the process.  Since 2004, the group has been meeting several times a year on top of frequent conference calls.  In late 2007, the final RP received unanimous approval from IATA, ATA, and ACI World.  The CUPPS RP was ACI’s first adopted recommended practice and therefore CUPPS was also the first RP adopted by all three aviation associations.

 

More recently, the initiative has entered a pilot phase.  Currently, two common use platforms, one each developed by ARINC and SITA, are being used to check-in WestJet passengers at Las Vegas and Orlando respectively.  The pilot intends to prove the fundamental tenants of a true common use system, the ability to take an airline check-in application and run it on any platform (currently airlines have to develop an application for every common use platform that they operate on).  The tool that allows for this portability is the more than 500 page Technical Specification document that, along with the Technical Requirements document, is the framework of the CUPPS RP.  Good lessons are being learned in the pilot, which is intended to run through September, and additional platform developers will be brought online soon in new locations including piloting Ultra’s platform at Dublin Airport and RESA platform at Brussels Airport.  Additionally, Continental Airlines and American Airlines will be joining the pilot as well.

 

An important piece of low-hanging fruit was realized last year with the addition of the Aviation Information Data Exchange (AIDX) standard to the CUPPS RP.  AIDX provides for a simplified manner in which airports and airlines can freely exchange flight information in a real-time environment.  As part of the CUPPS initiative, it was unanimously approved by both the world’s air carriers and recently, by the world’s airports through ACI World.  AIDX has been deployed at five airports by three airlines using three different vendors.  Additionally, AIDX is being considered by eight additional airlines, seven additional airports and eight additional vendors.

 

From the beginning, CUPPS has been a true industry collaboration.  This is due to the overall benefits that every stakeholder will realize with the implementation of CUPPS.  If your airport intends to move forward with any project involving the implementation of a common use system, including CUTE or Common Use Self-Service (CUSS), make sure you understand the upcoming transition to CUPPS.

 

For copies of the CUPPS RP and other CUPPS supporting material, please visit www.CUPPS.aero.


For more information contact Matt Griffin.

 

 

2009 BIT Committee Election held at ACI World/ACI – North America Conference in Boston, MA

September 2008 – The Business Information Technology Committee held elections for several open positions including the committee Vice Chair and three associate steering group positions.  The BIT committee is proud to have elected William Flowers, Vice President/CIO at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, to the Vice Chair position.  Mr. Flowers will serve a two year term as Vice Chair followed by a two year term as Chair, subject to review.

 

John Payne, CIO of the San Francisco Airport Commission and committee Vice Chair for the past two years, will become Chair for the 2009-2010 calendar years.  

 

The BIT Committee expressed their appreciation to John Newsome of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority.  Mr. Newsome has served as the BIT Committee Chair for the past several years.  The entire committee as well as the ACI-NA staff involved with the committee are grateful to Mr. Newsome for his service.

 

The three associate members that were elected to the steering group are Frank Barich of Barich, Inc., Pam Bell of Arup, and Dale Kirby of Ultra Electronics Airport Systems, Inc.  They will take the three positions which had been held by Geoff Galtere, Mark Sapp, and Kenny Wright for the past two years.  The BIT committee would like to thank those three individuals for their service.

 

 

TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Update

July 2008 - As you may know, TRB encouraged IT problem statements when soliciting projects earlier this year for the FY2009 program year.  Due to this as well as the fact that a number of BIT Committee members submitted problem statements, we wanted to update you on the process.

 

According to staff at TRB, 149 problem statements were submitted for the upcoming FY2009 ACRP program, of which roughly 45 addressed some aspect of IT. The research topics will be selected by the ACRP Oversight Committee (AOC) at its July meeting. Approximately 15 to 20 projects are selected each year for research.

 

The selected research topics will be announced in early to mid August. At that time, nominations for panel members to oversee the selected projects will be solicited. Panel members will be selected in September or October. The panels are responsible for turning the problem statement into a request for proposal and overseeing the project. 

 

A listing of current ACRP research projects is available at: http://www.trb.org/CRP/ACRP/ACRPProjects.asp
For more information on ACRP click the link below: http://www.trb.org/CRP/ACRP/ACRP.asp  

 

 

CUPPS clears important milestones with Unanimous Approval

January 2008 – The Common Use Passenger Processing Systems (CUPPS) initiative continues to surpass important hurdles.  Samuel Ingalls, chair of the CUPPS leadership team, in an update to the ACI-NA Business Information Technology Committee Steering Group, discussed the unanimous approval by IATA, ATA and ACI.  These successes were another step in the implementation process that will continue with a Proof of Concept Trial set to begin this year.

 

 

Ruling Released on Aircraft’s Wi-Fi Antenna

Nov. 1, 2006 – In a decision concerning the use of a Wi-Fi antenna by Continental Airlines, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) found that the restrictions mandated by Massport, operator of Boston’s Logan Airport where the airline in question was located, were pre-empted. The FCC based the decision on its Over the Air Radio Devices rules. The FCC's Memorandum Opinion and Order, along with statements by FCC commissioners, are as follows:

 

 

IT Salary and Position Survey

August 2006 – ACI-NA distributed to airport members the revised results of the airport IT Salary and Position Survey. The following files contain the IT job descriptions referenced in the survey. For more information regarding the results of the survey or the job descriptions, contact Matt Griffin (mgriffin@aci-na.org).

 

 

BIT White Paper Published

Recognizing the importance of IT systems and developing operational goals at the director level and above are key elements in assuring that airport facilities will be equipped to handle the continuous changes in the industry now and in the future. With these goals in mind, the committee published a white paper detailing new efforts in the IT arena.

View Information Technology Issues in Terminal Planning (PDF File).