Dépêches

Continental Renews Multi-Year Contract with ITA Software

Dépèche transmise le 7 avril 2009 par Business Wire

Continental Renews Multi-Year Contract with ITA Software

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ITA Software, Inc., the leading provider of innovative solutions to the travel industry, today announced the signing of a multi-year renewal agreement with Continental Airlines (www.continental.com), the world’s fifth largest airline. An ITA customer since 2002, Continental Airlines will continue to take advantage of the innovative features and functionalities of ITA’s QPX, the industry’s premier management system for airfare pricing and shopping, in order to increase revenues and improve customer satisfaction through flexible search options and customization.

“ITA is a tremendous partner that continues to identify creative new ways for us to use its QPX system to drive more value for our customers, while helping our airline remain differentiated from competitors,” explained Martin Hand, vice president reservations and e-commerce,Continental Airlines. “The flexibility, customization and seemingly endless airfare search options we can offer our customers through the use of QPX are invaluable.”

The transaction-based software license agreement allows the airline to maximize its use of QPX’s worldwide pricing and shopping features including ITA’s pioneering Revenue, Reward, Calendar, and Interline options. Through the multiple-partner reward shopping functionality, Continental allows its customers to shop, check availability and use partner reward miles in addition to its own miles. ITA’s Calendar option offers a flexible date search with its multi-partner reward shopping offering. With the Interline feature, customers can search for flights with segments on multiple carriers, including Continental, from departure point to destination. Both the Calendar and Interline offerings provide customers more travel options, ease and convenience – which ultimately increases customer satisfaction and spend.

“Working together since 2002, Continental has consistently been an early technology adopter and always one of the first to inquire about, and implement, new QPX product features to get ahead of emerging business or competitive challenges,” said Gianni Marostica, chief commercial officer, ITA Software. “Our partnership with Continental has been incredibly rewarding and continues to evolve and strengthen over time based on our combined commitment to implementing targeted solutions that enable the airline to drive new revenue opportunities and bolster customer loyalty with every transaction.”

Continental Airlines has been a pioneer and early adopter of many of ITA’s airfare innovations. Continental was the first airline to take advantage of the international QPX offering when it debuted in 2003 and Reward Shopping in 2004. The airline also pioneered ITA’s Dynamic Availability Calculating System (DACS), a solution that saves airlines time and money by offering a completely new and unique way to store, calculate and distribute flight schedule data and seat availability, satisfying millions of availability queries per second.

About Continental

Continental Airlines is the world's fifth largest airline. Continental, together with Continental Express and Continental Connection, has more than 2,800 daily departures throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, serving 135 domestic and 132 international destinations. More than 650 additional points are served via alliance partners. With more than 42,000 employees, Continental has hubs serving New York, Houston, Cleveland and Guam, and together with Continental Express, carries approximately 67 million passengers per year. Continental consistently earns awards and critical acclaim for both its operation and its corporate culture. For more company information, visit continental.com.

About ITA Software

ITA Software (www.itasoftware.com) is a leader in developing innovative solutions for the travel industry. ITA’s QPX, the industry’s most comprehensive airfare shopping system, is used by leading airlines and online travel companies worldwide including Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Live Search Farecast by Microsoft, Hotwire, Kayak, Orbitz, TAP Portugal Airlines, TripAdvisor, United Airlines, US Airways and others. ITA is currently building a radically new passenger reservation system with launch partner Air Canada. In 2008, the company was ranked as an Inc. 5000 fastest growing private company. ITA was founded by computer scientists from MIT and is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass.