Risk and Technology

Case study

Part (b)

Based on your findings from Part (a), Winglet’s CEO and CIO have asked you to further analyse the booking process. They provide you with the following description:

The booking process includes the following sub-processes: flight search, flight selection, and flight reservation and its associated service options: payment processing, booking confirmation and refund.

To search for a flight, the customer enters their search parameters on Winglet’s website or the 'Smart Winglet’ app. These parameters relate to the route (departure and arrival location), schedule, passenger type, service class (economy, business, first-class), flight type (non-stop or stop-over) and itinerary type (one-way or return).

The flight search process

Winglet uses a global distribution system (GDS) to search for and display flights matching customer search parameters. Winglet’s GDS is a network system connected to the databases of numerous airlines and global air-travel providers and aggregators that collect and make available airfare-related data.

To identify the flights that meet a customer’s search parameters, the GDS performs a real-time search of these thirdparty databases, and of its own database of flights made available through its exclusive agreements with over 900 airlines. These agreements allow Winglet to sell tickets on more favourable terms. They are also strategically important because they allow Winglet to compete against other meta-search engines that access the same third-party databases accessed by Winglet’s GDS when it searches for flights. Through these exclusive agreements, Winglet’s GDS has real-time links to the airlines’ central reservation databases, which contain flight availability data that the GDS checks against customer search criteria.

The flight securing process

After reviewing the flight options provided by Winglet’s GDS, the customer selects a flight and any additional service options (eg, seat selection, additional baggage and in-flight meals). Once the customer has selected a flight, Winglet’s GDS notifies the third-party and airline databases, which then issues a hold on the flight.

If the flight is available, the GDS receives the status code ‘holding confirmed’ to confirm. If the flight is not available, the GDS receives the status code ‘holding not confirmed’. The GDS then informs the customer that the flight is not available. Winglet’s agreement with the air-travel providers/aggregators is that requested flights will be held for up to 60 minutes. Winglet has no such an agreement in place with the airlines.

The customer has then 60 minutes time to finalise the booking before the requested flight’s hold is deactivated and it is made available for other customers or meta-search engines to reserve. Once a flight selection is finalised, the customer can either log in to their existing Winglet account to complete the purchase or proceed to purchase the flight as a guest.

If a customer proceeds as a guest, they enter all their details manually, including name, date of birth, email, address, contact number, gender, nationality and passport number. At this point, the GDS offers the customer the option to create an account, based on the information they have already provided. If the customer has a Winglet account and logs in to it, their details are already in the GDS, so they don’t need to be entered manually.

The customer (whether guest or accountholder) is then offered travel insurance, and the customer can choose from different insurance covers. The customer is also asked if they are interested in local deals (eg, on hotels, rental cars and sightseeing tours).

The flight payment process

The customer is then sent to the payments page. There, they can change their payment method and/or their details, if required. The customer then enters their payment information and pays, up-front, the full amount of the ticket price.

Online payments from Winglet customers are processed by an accredited third-party payment gateway, GonzaloPay, which offers popular payment options. Winglet uses GonzaloPay to ensure a secure and simple payment process.

To process a payment, GonzaloPay first places an authorisation hold on the cardholder’s account to ensure the cardholder has sufficient funds to pay for their ticket. GonzaloPay then processes the payment and transfers the funds to Winglet’s bank account. Once the money has been transferred to Winglet’s bank account, Winglet receives an automated notification from GonzaloPay.

Once the customer has paid, and their payment has been processed by GonzaloPay, Winglet's GDS automatically makes the booking with the relevant air-travel provider/aggregator or airline. Then the GDS generates a passenger name record (PNR). The PNR is displayed on electronic tickets (e-tickets) as a 10-digit personal code that contains the traveller’s personal information, booking reservation number and itinerary. Winglet uses the PNR to track the customer’s record. Finally, a booking confirmation, including the e-ticket, is sent to the customer.

For most bookings, online check-in is available 48 hours before the flight. To check in, the customer enters the details from their e-ticket, either via Winglet’s website or the Smart Winglet app. The customer can amend their previously selected options, such as for seats, if alternatives are available. Once this process is complete, the customer receives their electronic boarding pass.

Unavailable and cancelled flights

Sometimes, a customer books a ticket available through one of Winglet’s special deals with airlines, but the ticket becomes unavailable, or the airline cancels the flight. This occurs when the flight is fully booked, but the airline has not yet updated the booking details in its system. Booked flights on hold become unavailable when another customer is simultaneously using a different booking system to book the same flight – in which case, the customer who completes the booking process first is confirmed as the ticketholder for that flight.

Winglet has no control over flight cancellations. If a ticket is unavailable or cancelled, Winglet’s GDS receives an automated notification from the airline. The GDS then automatically informs the customer and starts the refund process.

The refund process

Three of Winglet’s admin staff are responsible for the refund process. They are also assigned to other time-consuming tasks, so they only initiate the refund process once a week – every Friday – for all refunds accumulated during the preceding seven days.

Once a ticket is cancelled, the refund staff member calls Winglet’s bank to authorise a refund. The bank then transfers the paid amount to GonzaloPay. This process can take up to two business days. Then, GonzaloPay transfers the funds to the customer’s bank account. This can take up to three business days.

Your involvement

Winglet’s CEO and CIO have asked you evaluate Winglet’s current booking process and identify areas for improvement.

Your tasks

Continue writing the report you created in response to Part a).

Task 7: Prepare a process flow diagram that graphically illustrates the current booking process. You can use any software to create the process flow diagram. You can also create the process flow diagram directly in your report or draw and scan using appropriate symbols and connectors.

You do not need to submit the diagram file but ensure you include a screenshot of the diagram in your report/presentation. You may instead choose to upload the diagram file If any of the text in the diagram is not readable.

Task 8: Based on the case study information in Part a) and Part b), identify and explain problem areas in Winglet’s current booking process by applying the computational thinking principles of decomposition and abstraction.