The need to update inventory management systems for airlines — Part 2

There has been much discussion over the last few decades on the changes within revenue management. Many of these changes are fundamental, with many major airlines now adopting concepts such as bid price and origin and destination. These changing concepts have required airlines to look at their inventory management systems, as it is these systems that will actually implement the airlines' chosen methodologies. But while revenue management has undergone change, inventory management, which is a key component of revenue management, has remained fairly static. Split over two parts, this paper discusses some of the issues which revenue management–driven airlines are facing and thus requiring in their inventory management systems to support these changing fundamentals. Part 1, published in Journal of Revenue & Pricing Management, Vol. 2, No. 3, looked at topics such as system technology, user interface, richer data, changing decision–making processes, better performance, staff productivity and alliances and code share. Part 2 focuses on the changing methodologies of availability determination and control which are driving airlines away from the classic booking class model and into more creative but effective availability models.