[November 20, 2014]

Dell's End-to-End Solutions Help Fuel Airlines Industry Success

Dell's end-to-end technology solutions are helping streamline operations and power recent growth in the commercial airlines industry which shows no signs of slowing down. Worldwide airline industry profits are expected to be $18 billion in 2014-up from $10.6 billion in 2013- according to the International Air Transport Association, and Boeing estimates that global cargo and passenger traffic will expand nearly 5 percent annually through 2033. Even on the heels of the recent Ebola scare, travelers are expected to fly in droves this holiday season, with Airlines for America projecting that 25 million will take to the skies this Thanksgiving in the U.S.

A significant factor in this cross-industry growth is the way airlines are leveraging technology solutions to modernize their operations and improve customer experience. Dell (News - Alert) technology enables leading airlines in regions around the world to run more efficiently, offer more services and provide an enhanced flight experience for travelers.

Latin America

AeroMéxico Delta TechOps, a joint venture between AeroMéxico and Delta, launched in January 2013 to provide aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul. In under a year TechOps Mexico became the largest such aircraft maintenance center in Latin America and its IT infrastructure played a significant role. Working with Dell, TechOps Mexico had one source for hardware, software, virtualization and services-which yielded huge savings, both in finances and time. Dell was able to deploy the entire AeroMéxico Delta TechOps IT infrastructure-cloud client computing, data center and cloud management, desktops and notebooks, networking and network security, performance monitoring and unified communications-in just four months with lower cost than competing vendors.

"We only have five people in our IT department and yet we're supporting 1,000 users and maintaining 99.8 percent reliability with our Dell infrastructure, said Roman Sanchez Ortega, IT infrastructure manager, AeroMéxico Delta TechOps.

Brazil's Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras airline has leveraged Dell as a technology partner since it was founded in 2008. The company was one of the first to invest in the first-class treatment of its passengers and it has resulted in incredible growth for the company, which is now the third largest airline in Brazil in just six years. Dell and Azul have an extensive technology partnership that enables Azul to continue its focus of providing the best possible service to its customers. Dell provides the technology for Azul's entire data center, including the base for servers and storage. Dell also provides 95 percent of the desktops, notebooks and thin clients used at company facilities, the headquarters and service desks in Brazilian airports.

Europe

Airlines are also incorporating mobile technology to improve efficiency in the air. Pilots historically have had to drag large trolleys containing route plans and emergency procedures, but that is changing with the development of electronic flight bags. Malmo Aviation, a Swedish airline providing regional flights throughout Scandinavia and other European destinations, is working with Dell OEM Solutions to implement electronic flight bags as part of a move to eliminate paper-based systems and standardize technology. Pilots use Dell Latitude 10 tablets to help create reports based on flight data, which are fed into the central systems. Staff can then use the reports to determine crucial operational insights like fuel procurement and scheduling requirements.

"We believe the Dell tablets are a key part of our electronic flight bag program," said Anderz Forzelius, captain and flight department IT officer, Malmo Aviation. "They're helping pilots work more effectively on the ground and will eventually support all areas of flight operations. They love the Dell tablets. I regularly get pilots dropping by and saying how much easier they are to work with."

Asia

Japan Airlines is the premier Japanese airline and employs more than 30,000 people. When the company needed to replace its highly distributed and out-of-date infrastructure, Dell's end-to-end solutions provided the answer. Partnering with Dell, Japan Airlines implemented a virtualized data center solution based on Dell PowerEdge servers and deployed an integrated data backup solution provided by Dell Storage PS Series and Dell MD Series storage arrays. The end result is a significant increase in business agility and the assurance that mission critical data is securely backed up and easily recovered.

"Our users have the same consistent system performance after moving to the virtualized environment," said Chisato Oyamada, manager, technical infrastructure group, IT planning division, IT planning head office, Japan Airlines.

Travelers Benefit As Well

Dell solutions aren't just improving the back end of the flight experience, either. Air Canada and Air Canada's media partner, Spafax, recently partnered with Dell and Microsoft (News - Alert) for a complete technology overhaul in 20 Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Business Centers, featuring the latest Dell OptiPlex 3011 All-in-One touchscreen PCs, high-speed performance Dell 5130 color printers and Dell C3765 multifunction printers and scanners. Now, more than 250,000 travelers who use Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges monthly throughout Canada, Europe and the U.S. have access to secure, manageable and reliable technology.

About Dell

Dell Inc. listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services that give them the power to do more. For more information, visit www.dell.com.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]