Air New Zealand(MIS100 2011)

Reports to: Rob McDonald, CFO
Size of IS shop: 231

PCs: 5300
Mobile PCs: 2472
Terminals: 871
Hand-held devices: 2257
Total screens: 10,900

Industry: Transport and warehousing
PC environment: Windows XP, HP, Dell
Server environment: IBM, HP, Sun, Windows, Red Hat Linux, Suse Linux, AIX
DBMS: SQL, Oracle, MySQL, DB2
Address: 185 Fanshawe Street, Auckland
Website: www.airnz.co.nz
Key IS projects this year: Disaster recovery; customer loyalty and customer experience; virtualization; alliances integration.

Top of mind for Air New Zealand’s IS team is supporting the provision of differentiated and engaging new products to the airline’s customers. An example of this is the recent rollout of its new seat technology onboard the company’s recently acquired Boeing 777-300 aircraft.

IT has factored heavily into the custom-built planes. The ability to sell a variety of products seamlessly to the customer, while presenting them with a number of product options that are simple to understand is imperative. IS has also moved into software development within the aircraft cabin, with travelers in all classes supplied with the capability to order food and drink on demand, via their personal in-flight entertainment touchscreen.

While the company has been presented with a number of challenges, including the Christchurch and Japanese earthquakes and high fuel prices, ICT staff numbers will remain constant, and budgets for the department will remain the same as the past financial year. The IS team continues to challenge itself to find ways to deliver award-winning products, while driving down costs to enable further innovation and development.

Last year, Air NZ and Virgin Blue were given regulatory approval for a trans-Tasman alliance, and this alliance will drive delivery requirements for the IS team across the entire business.

Major technology investments were carried out and completed last year, including Tasman self-service check-in, Tasman and Pacific “Seats to Suit”, long-haul new product and inflight entertainment, increased loyalty partners, baggage systems, Christchurch integrated terminal, VoIP, Exchange upgrades, technology refreshes, wireless and knowledge management.