Book Details

Airline E-commerce Book Structure

Book Description

Online travel is big business and has become one of the most popular items purchased by consumers on the internet. According to one estimate, in 2012, approximately $313 billion or over one third of total B2C travel was spent on online travel products with air travel alone accounting for 61% or $191 billion. A variety of contributing factors is responsible for this development:

the emergence of the commercial internet in the mid-1990s;
a change in the behavior of consumers who through inexpensive internet access and growing familiarity with easy-to-use technology today shop 24/7 from anywhere in the world;
airline companies use the internet not only as a new platform to service, sell and market but - by cutting traditional supply channels and reaching directly to the end consumer - also to realize cost savings in their sales and distribution value chains;
the arrival of new intermediaries in the form of online travel agencies, meta search engines, network affiliates, and other mass sales and marketing websites that distribute travel products to the public;
the growing prevalence of mobile platforms and social media allowing for new unprecedented forms of interactivity with shoppers of travel products.

Airline companies everywhere have integrated electronic commerce or e-commerce into their business operations in various shapes and forms. Today, it is no longer a question of 'if' for an airline company but 'how' to deal with e-commerce and leverage it to enhance its competitiveness. With plenty of references to and examples of leading companies from the airline industry and beyond, this book discusses the critical success factors for an airline e-commerce strategy and the role of e-commerce in sales & distribution, marketing, and customer service. Furthermore, explored are the various organizational structures to manage e-commerce, the handling of day-to-day web site operations like site content management and security, the growing concerns surrounding web site privacy, emerging social media and mobile trends, and the role of e-commerce in managing airline emergency situations. This book is an introduction to the business & technology cross-over topic of airline e-commerce and could be of interest to students and practitioners alike - from the airline travel industry and beyond.

Table Of Contents

Part I. Introduction to Airline E-commerce

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: The Fundamentals of Airline E-commerce

Chapter 3: Airline Web Site Product Overview

Part II. Airline E-commerce Strategy & Applications

Chapter 4: Airline E-commerce Strategy

Chapter 5: Airline Web Marketing

Chapter 6: Airline E-Sales & Distribution

Chapter 7: Airline Customer Service in Cyberspace

Part III. Airline E-commerce Operation

Chap 8: The Airline E-commerce Organization