Mitchell Bingemann | August 19, 2008
QANTAS has a new browsing platform for its website that takes advantage of the iPhone's touchscreen.
As a result of the airline's mobile platform strategy, the Qantas.com website allows customers to check flight schedules, fares and contact details using the iPhone's touch controls.Qantas chief information officer Jamila Gordon says the airline is the third in the world and the first in the southern hemisphere to introduce the initiative.
"This is part of Qantas's broader mobile strategy for Qantas group, which aims to give customers access to information and services via portable devices," she says.
Qantas has been developing the site since the iPhone's launch in July and it plans to unveil a BlackBerry-compatible version by the end of the year.
After the BlackBerry-compatible site is unveiled, Qantas will add additional functionality to the mobile platform in a phased approach.
By the start of next year customers will be able to access seat selection, complete flight bookings, boarding pass collection and SMS notifications that inform Jetstar and Qantas customers about delayed flights.
"Our whole mobile strategy is to take advantage of portable devices," Gordon says.
"Our goal is to enable the customer to manage their entire journey, from booking to boarding and beyond through portable devices."
Qantas's decision to build an iPhone-compatible site ahead of a compatible BlackBerry version did not signal the airline's intention to use the iPhone for internal business processes, Gordon says.
Qantas is trialling 400 BlackBerrys to replace the airline's paper-based customer service forms.
The trial, begun in mid-June is on schedule to be completed by the end of the year, at which time additional devices will be purchased and used across the entire business Gordon says.
"The BlackBerry crew trial is going fantastically," she says. "Once the trial is complete at the end of the year we will absolutely extend the system to all our crew."