SITA's terminals increase at American airports

ATLANTA -- SITA's latest IP-enabled and Java based version of its Common Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE) has been embraced by major airports across the Americas, with a claim of helping reduce the cost of running check-in desks by around 15 percent and speeding passenger handling by up to 25 percent.

In the Americas, contracts worth over US$60 million per year have recently been signed for SITA's CUTE including implementation at airports such as Atlanta, Caracas, Denver, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Newark, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Rio de Janeiro and Santiago de Chile. The product is also available as CUTE Wireless, allowing passengers to check-in using mobile devices.

"Ensuring our customers have a seamless path to the latest technologies and continually helping them to lower operating costs is clearly maintaining SITA's leadership in the provision of common use services to airports in the Americas and worldwide," said John Jarrell, SITA's senior vice president for airport and desktop services. "Common use solutions based on open systems are crucial to the future of the aviation industry as they provide a standard, flexible platform to facilitate the maximum use of resources and help expedite the movement of passengers." 

RFID and smart cards

Additionally, SITA says that CUTE can be adapted by software application developers to add technologies such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) bag tags or biometric smart cards to help enhance security, along with new features and functionality to further improve its cost-effectiveness.

"As airports in the US face the demands of implementing the new security legislation they are also looking to SITA to find mechanisms to reduce their operating costs," said Dan Ebbinghaus, SITA's president for the Americas. "By continually updating our CUTE product since its inception in 1984, when we introduced the world's first airport shared check-in system, SITA has become the acknowledged world leader in the provision of shared airport systems with five times as many CUTE installations and workstations deployed as any other provider worldwide." 

Last week, the CUTE local user board (CLUB) for Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport’s Terminal ‘E’, as well as the Terminal E management company, TBI, have chosen to upgrade their Common Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE) system to SITA’s latest Java-based, internet protocol (IP) enabled version, in a five-year renewal contract valued at US$4.4 million.

Atlanta airport

The Atlanta airport handles over 75 million passengers a year and was ranked highest in the world for passenger traffic in 2001. In Terminal E as well as in the Main Terminal, CUTE is used by all international carriers including Air France, AeroMexico, British Airways, Delta, Lufthansa, Northwest and Air Jamaica. This project will offer them a full upgrade of the existing CUTE system, memory upgrades for all 84 common workstations, upgrade of the Local Area Network (LAN) to Ethernet/Fast Ethernet technology including Ethernet cards for all Intelligent Workstations and an upgrade of core room equipment. 

This latest version of SITA CUTE offers end-to-end IP connectivity from host to the airport desktop, providing airlines with access to their own systems on an industry open platform. Each CUTE workstation uses a pre-integrated browser and is connected over IP to support the individual airline needs.

Also last week, the CUTE local user board (CLUB) at the Bradley Terminal of Los Angeles World Airport upgraded its existing Common Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE) to SITA’s latest, Java based and IP-enabled version of CUTE. The upgrade will allow shared check-in, departure control and back-office applications to run on an open industry standard platform, leading to significant improvements in connectivity and interoperability.

The US$14 million deal will also see the introduction of an Ethernet LAN Network at the airport which now handles over 61 million passengers, and was ranked third largest in the world for total passenger traffic in 2001. A total of 310 intelligent workstations at the terminal’s check-in facilities and departure gates will be upgraded with SITA’s CUTE, offering end-to-end IP connectivity from host to the airport desktop on an open platform. Each CUTE workstation uses a pre-integrated browser and is connected over IP to support the individual airline needs.

Jarrell's background

Based in Atlanta, SITA's Jarrell is responsible for implementing SITA's airport systems integration strategy worldwide, which provides a portfolio of airport solutions to maximize resources, combat congestion, enhance security, improve operating efficiencies, reduce costs and provide new streams of airport revenue.

Jarrell is leading the company’s initiative to provide managed desktop services to other market sectors such as Aerospace, Cargo, Government and CRM. These integrated desktop solutions cover the design, implementation and maintenance of the desktop and local infrastructure environment for SITA's customers.

Jarrell has a long history in the industry. Prior to joining SITA, he was director of airport sales for the Americas for Electronic Data Systems Corporation (EDS) where he launched its Airport Services Division in 1995 and was responsible for developing its business relationships with Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport and JFK’s Terminal One.

SITA founded in 1949

SITA was founded in 1949 by 11 airlines: Air France, KLM, Sabena, Swissair, TWA, British European Airways Corporation (BEAC), British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), British South American Airways (BSAA), Swedish A.G.Aerotransport, Danish Det Danske Luftfartselskab A/S and Noweigan Det Norske Luftfartselskap. SITA opened its first telecommunications center in Rome, Italy, in 1950.

SITA is the world's largest provider of integrated information and telecommunications solutions to the air transport industry. SITA now has around 740 members and 1,800 customers including airlines, airports, travel distribution and computer reservation systems, governmental organisations, aerospace and air-freight companies. SITA recorded corporate revenues of over US$1.611 billion in 2001.

Originally known as Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques, SITA today uses only the shortened version of its name. One of SITA's first tasks was to provide direct communications between the main European airports, leading SITA to become a pioneer in international telecommunications.