Jay Boehmer and I just spoke with Brian Cook, a former Sita executive who recently joined HP Enterprise Services as vice president and general manager for travel and transportation. On the job about two weeks, Cook didn't give us much on what presumably are the company's two biggest transportation projects--
AA's new Jetstream res system and the migration next year of
United over to the Shares system. Cook and a spokesperson noted that his job is a new one after HP decided to create several verticals within its Enterprise Services division, and that he is "heavily involved" with those AA and UA initiatives. [more]
Based on timeframes disclosed two years ago when the new Jetstream system was announced, HP this year should be recording revenues from AMR Corp., and in two to three years should be implementing the new system. AA currently uses Sabre.
HP claims 300 travel and transportation clients worldwide, and Cook said the firm "has recommitted to this space in a big way."
Cook said the driving trends in airline IT these days include "direct distribution, personalization, fares management and new business and trading models."