Used To Check In First Passengers At LAS
Hundreds of WestJet Airlines passengers boarded their
regularly scheduled flights from Las Vegas, NV to Calgary, Alberta,
on January 15, without noticing anything unusual.
That was very good news for WestJet, for Las Vegas McCarran
Airport, and for ARINC Incorporated. Everyone involved had just
participated in the world’s first live test of the next
generation of passenger check-in technology, Common Use Passenger
Processing Systems, known as CUPPS.
By introducing a new worldwide electronic standard, CUPPS
promises to save millions of dollars for airlines and airports.
Software developers at all airlines will now have a universal
standard detailed enough to eliminate the variations that
previously made interoperability next to impossible to achieve.
The first test at Las Vegas McCarran is continuing, and will
include Continental Airlines and American Airlines. It is the first
of six pilot tests scheduled around the world to prove out the new
CUPPS technology. A total of six airlines, six airports, and six
platform suppliers are participating.
CUPPS makes airline check-in applications fully portable,
generating savings in reduced ongoing development and support
costs. It can bring further savings to both airports and airlines
through more efficient printing of boarding passes and baggage
tags.
ARINC has been instrumental in the leadership and technical
development of CUPPS, working with the international IATA/ATA/ACI
CUPPS team to develop the CUPPS Technical Specification published
in 2008. The company fast-tracked its deployment of the vMUSE CUPPS
platform now installed for the CUPPS Pilot Project at Las Vegas
McCarran. The CUPPS team is led by Samuel Ingalls, the
airport’s Assistant Director of Aviation, Information
Systems.
"CUPPS is a much-needed worldwide effort to replace the CUTE
technology that has served airports and airlines very well for over
30 years," stated Ingalls. "We are very pleased with the first
results from our CUPPS pilot test. Las Vegas McCarran continues to
champion and embrace innovative technology that brings significant
improvements in functionality, coupled with cost reductions for all
stakeholders."
Common-use systems allow multiple airlines to share the same
computer systems at airport check-in desks and boarding gates. The
previous generation of common-use check-in systems -- known as CUTE
-- lacked the detailed technical specifications in CUPPS that
assure interoperability and portability.
"This is a true breakthrough for the aviation industry," said
John Belcher, ARINC Chairman & CEO. "CUPPS represents a major
investment by ARINC that will give the industry tremendous savings.
ARINC's vMUSE platform is now being enhanced to simultaneously run
legacy CUTE applications, newer CUPPS applications, and
airlines’ native applications—a capability we launched
in Singapore in November 2007."