Concern is building within the airline industry over a lack of board level representation for IT, according to the latest IT Trends Survey.
"Airlines must bring IT into the boardroom," SITA's regional VP of Australasia and South Pacific, Mike Hargis, said at a media gathering this week. "They [airlines] may be transforming business to embrace the IT revolution, but there is considerable room for improvement," Hargis added.
Sixty-four percent of respondents said that the lack of a skilled IT personnel on the board was a key obstacle in achieving their IT strategy whilst 41 percent of found lack of investment in IT operations to be a problem.
"Scarcity of IT personnel is the major problem," Hargis said, " but low-level investment is also a barrier".
Hargis said that the major carriers are spending four percent of revenue on implementation of IT and have gained competitive advantage by doing so. All airlines should raise investment from the current 2.5 percent.
According to the study, 54 percent of airlines plan to invest more in IT in 2001.
The study also found a common trend amongst airlines to e-ticketing.
Two-thirds of respondents already claimed to be generating Web-based ticket sales today, and close to half were making sales over their own Web site. However, just over half of the organisations surveyed are making only 10 percent of ticket sales online and 37 percent of respondents yet to make sales online.
"The Internet has changed the way the [airline] industry is looking at cost reduction and competitive advantage," Hargis said.
There were 70 respondents to the April IT Trends Survey of 150 carriers, which was commissioned by SITA and Airline Business Magazine.
