Southwest Airlines Switches Systems For Check-In Today
by Barbara Peterson
Southwest Airlines is set to roll out the next phase of OneRes, a new reservation system developed by Amadeus.
The airline says that as of today, the system will be used for all day-of-flight operations, including functions ranging from passenger check-in to baggage handling. Southwest had already launched the system for domestic ticket sales last December.
While consumers and agents will likely notice little change with the new system – unless there are glitches during the switch – Southwest executives have been hinting at major improvements once the full potential of OneRes is realized later this year. Among them will be greater flexibility in scheduling flights and managing inventory, making it easier for the airline to honor a new pledge not to overbook flights.
Southwest had been overdue for an upgrade of its 30-year-old system, whose deficiencies became all too apparent when outages led to a wave of flight disruptions last year. The carrier says it has invested more than $500 million in developing OneRes.
