PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AAI) , today announced on the floor at the annual National Business Travel Association convention held in Los Angeles, Calif., that the airline has introduced new e-ticketing capabilities to simplify the booking, ticketing and reporting process for corporate travelers through select global distribution systems (GDS). The airline is adding this new enhancement to save corporations time and money when booking AirTran Airways through the GDS.
This enhancement is another step in AirTran Airways' ongoing commitment to make it easy to do business with the airline. Effective today, e-ticketing will be available initially through the Sabre GDS and will enable corporations and travel management companies to book AirTran Airways in the same fashion as any other airline.
The benefits of e-tickets are reduced documentation costs, enhanced passenger check-in options, reduced fraud, and the elimination of lost, stolen and pre-paid tickets.
In the coming months, the airline will be announcing additional capabilities through the GDS systems, such as improved seat assignment and Business Class upgrade functionality, frequent traveler recognition, and expanded corporate program integration.
AirTran Airways pioneered ticketless travel fifteen years ago and will continue to offer ticketless travel while adding e-ticket travel. Ticketless travel, available through www.airtran.com or 800-AIRTRAN, is a reservation with a confirmation number and payment is settled through the airline. E- ticketing is a reservation which includes a ticket number, an accounting and reporting trail, inventory management, and other airline interline options, and payment is settled through the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC). E- ticketing will give corporate travelers more ticketing and interline capabilities.
"We are committed to building our corporate business, and the introduction of e-ticketing is a major step forward for AirTran Airways," said Paul G. Clements, general manager of sales for AirTran Airways. "While we will continue to be a ticketless airline, AirTran Airways will work to improve GDS functionality for our corporate partners."
"Moving to a 100% e-ticketing environment is a very significant industry initiative," said David Gross, senior vice president of Airline Distribution for Sabre Travel Network. "AirTran Airways is a valuable partner of Sabre's and we are delighted to be to the first GDS to launch e-ticketing with them. We look forward to launching additional functionality that will continue to streamline and enhance the booking process."
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