Posted: June 27th, 2015

Team and Project details

Team Report

Team and Project details

Our project is an In-Flight Automated system for Etihad Airlines. The team consists of four students namely Asrar al Yassi, Hamda Al Hameli, Asma Al Hashemi and Salma Al Hosani. The team leader is Asrar and she was responsible for distributing and delegating the work amongst the group members equally. She made sure that everyone does their part of the work perfectly and checks every part once finished by group members.

We distributed the work equally amongst group member and gave each member what she does best. We started the project by planning its layout and we sat together and brain stormed ideas about what software we will use and designed the prototype together as a team and got all the designing and planning over with. Then we distributed the work, Asrar was responsible for doing the presentation and Hamda was in charge of completing the team report, while Asma, and Salma were responsible for the project delivery which is preparing the prototype of our system and executing it as planned and designed by the team.

We were very pleased with the result of our newly proposed system and the prototype we came up with as a team, we did our best from planning to execution of the project and we are happy with the end result. As for our sponsor which is Etihad airlines they were thrilled with the prototype we presented to them and they are planning to implement our proposed inflight-system in their aircrafts one by one and they expect great success for the system as indicated by researches and project analysis.

Project Proposed: Etihad Airways In-Flight Automated System

Etihad Airways is a renowned airline company in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) established as a national carrier through a royal decree. The airline started operating in 2003 and grew very fast to become the airline with the fastest growth rate ever in the aviation industry history. This was attributed to the quality of its system. Currently, the system is relatively older when compared with systems of its competitors who have been developing as well as improving their systems based on the latest technology over the years. This old system is mainly reliant on paperwork and announcements which the air hostesses give to the passengers pertaining to services available like catering, reading, entertainment and shopping. Although Etihad Airline focused on increasing their flight path, they have not extended their focus on improving their systems and services. This system is time consuming and prone to many technical hitches like sudden breakdowns.

In this respect, there was a great need to upgrade the current old systems of the Etihad Airline Company which the basis of our project. The project focused on implementing an automated in-flight service system in the Etihad airlines. This was attributed to the rapid growth in technology worldwide which called for more efficient and sophisticated service systems in all areas leave alone aviation.

This new system incorporated all elements and details about Etihad Airline system and services. This system was comprised of multi tab/menu screens displaying all areas of services that Etihad Airlines offers. However, the system mainly concentrated on categories related to catering, information, entertainment and shopping which are of vital importance to many passengers. In addition, a feedback menu was to get the passengers impression about Etihad Airline services.

Relative to the catering tab, this displayed all types of foods offered where the passengers were required to make their order 24 hours prior to their flight time. This system displayed a full fledged food menu containing the three food courses: appetizers, main course and deserts. Upon clicking on each food course tab, a list of different meals appeared from where the passenger made his/her choice. For each meal on the three food courses was accompanied by detailed information about it starting with its picture, ingredients and nutritious aspects, and health indicators like calories intake. This helped the passengers in reaching a good decision about their choice of food. Thereafter, upon making the order, the air hostess automatically received the order and started working on it based on the time frame of the flight. This automated system also enhanced display food availability throughout the flights. That is, the system indicated the meals which were not available or out of stock to avoid inconveniencing the passengers.

On the information feature, three different sources of information, the newspapers, magazines and books based on different demographics such as sports, social, business and technical forums were presented from which the passengers made their choice of interest. In addition to this, the information provided in different common languages from which the passengers chose based on his/her language preference. Another feature that was incorporated in this sector is the navigation features which enabled passengers’ to navigate through the articles in the various information sources available. For all the above sources particularly newspaper, there was a variety of local and international materials for passengers to choose which to read from. Furthermore, as far as the books were concerned, brief information about the books was presented like the book title, author, place and year of publication, as well as the book summary.

In regards to the entertainment, the entertainment menu was comprised of three segments: music, movies and an insertion option to enable passengers input their own stuff. To begin with, the passenger had to first choose the entertainment tab on the main screen from where it list options then appeared. On the front of music, like in news segment, the music was presented based on the common language preferences more so English and Arabic. Upon selecting your language preference, a list of music based on genre and artists appeared. By selecting either a particular genre or artist a list of that/their music was displayed. The mode of sound output of this system was through earphones. This ensured that there was no disturbance caused to the other parties. The movie sector was similar to that of music. Furthermore, the insertion option enabled passengers to view and listen to their entertainment preferences they had carried on their storage devices like the USB flash disks. These mass storage devices were to be first scanned to ensure no viruses or other suspicious files are transferred to the system. Afterwards, the passenger would be allowed to choose and play his/her stuff.

In respect to the shopping menu tab, the system presented the duty free products on offer. Since shopping is one of the most important aspects for people particularly passengers, automating this feature would attract and satisfy more passengers. This is because more time and efforts from both the passengers and cabin crew would be saved. This menu entailed different shopping accessories like perfumes, handbags, electronic, toys, watches and so forth which upon selecting displayed their various models, make and prices as well. For instance, if one chose the handbag category, detailed information about the handbags would be displayed. These include the type of the handbag in respect to its color, size, price and availability. This display process was similar for other categories upon choosing. The system also enabled passengers to order things in different categories where after finishing; a bill was issued to the passenger for the ordered items. More to this, the system offered different payment options like via Visa or cash for the passengers to choose. After choosing, the passenger’s order was delivered to the cabin crew screen where it would then be processed, prepared and delivered to the respective passengers.

Further to the feedback menu of the automated system, this acted as a significant satisfaction program for passengers. Here, the passengers openly expressed their varied opinions such as complements, suggestions and complains regarding the Etihad in-flight services. Whenever, a passenger wished to express his/her feeling about the services offered he/she moved to the feedback menu. The feedback menu provided different feedback options: complement, complaint and suggestion to choose from.

 

Evaluation Instrument

Analyzing the market is an essential part of any project and thus we decided to carry out surveys that will suit our purpose and help us get the information we need from the passengers’ and cabin crew feedback about Etihad airline services and products. The survey questions are as listed in the table below.

Please take a moment to help us to know your feedback about the in-flight new system.

1)      Select your age group? □          17 To 20 □          21 To 25 □          26 To 30 □          31 and above.

2)      Select your gender? □          Male □          Female

3)      Select your status? □          Passenger □          Cabin Crew

4)      How many times have you travelled with us over the last twelve months? □          None □          Once □          Twice □          More than three times

5)      Which class did you choose on your flight? □          Coral Economy □          Pearl Business □          Diamond First

6)      What was the purpose of your travel? □          Business □          Personal

7)      What was your first impression about the In-flight automated system? □          It was fantastic □          It was boring □          It was confusing □          I loved and got addicted to it from the start

8)      Do you find the in-flight automated system easy to use? □          Yes □          No □          Sometimes

9)      Do you find what you were looking for in the in-flight automated system? □          Yes □          No

10)  What is your primary use for the in-flight automated system (passengers only)? □          In-flight Food application □          In-flight Information □          In-flight Entertainment □          In-flight Shopping □          All of the above

11)  How would you rate in-flight food and drinks options (passengers only)? □          Excellent □         Very Good □          Good □          Poor □         Very Poor

12)  How would you rate our reading material (passengers only)? □          Excellent □         Very Good □          Good □          Poor □         Very Poor

13)  How would you rate our in-flight entertainment (passengers only)? □          Excellent □         Very Good □          Good □          Poor □         Very Poor

14)  How would you rate our in-flight shopping (passengers only)? □          Excellent □         Very Good □          Good □          Poor □         Very Poor

15)  Do you find the in-flight automated system content easy to access? □          Strongly agree □          Agree □          Strongly disagree □          Disagree

16)  The in-flight automated system ratings (out of 5) □          1/5 (Very Bad) □         2/5 (Bad) □          3/5 (Good) □         4/5 (Very Good) □          5/5 (Excellent)

17)  Do you think the in-flight automated system needs any modifying in? □          Applications □          Design □          Performance □          All of the above

18)  How would you rate our cabin crew availability/punctuality throughout the flight (passengers only)? □          Excellent □         Very Good □          Good □          Poor □         Very Poor

19)  Do you suggest any further improvements? □          Yes □          No

If yes, please feel free to write for us your recommendations upon system development? ……………………………………………………………………………………………

Passengers ID:

Cabin Crew ID:-

 

The above survey questions were distributed amongst passengers and cabin crew at Etihad Airline in order to get their opinion and suggestions about the in-flight automated system after its implementation in Etihad Airline Company.

After collection of the survey questions, analysis of the survey questions was clearly done.

Data Records

Passenger Table Records

Passengers
	Pass-ID	Pass-Name	Pass-Sit-No	Pass-Flight-No
1.	2313	Ahmed Ali	D-20	LN-98
2.	7369	Salama Awad	C-7	PR-76
3.	8730	James Reisz	A-11	NY-39
4.	3952	Samir Sami	F-23	AL-24
5.	8375	Barry Jet	F-20	LN-21
6.	1231	Rana Salem	B-13	PR-97
7.	2329	Talal Mosa	A-29	CR-32
8.	6756	Moza Saeed	E-9	AD-30
9.	2380	Marwan Ahmed	C-15	AD-32
10.	1348	Laila Saleh	F-15	FR-24

 

Flight Table Records

Flight
	Flight-No	Depature	Arraival	Flight Duration	Country	Terminal
1.	LN-98	1800	2230	0430	London	2
2.	PR-76	0900	1300	0400	Paris	3
3.	NY-39	1000	300	1700	New York	3
4.	AL-24	4000	0845	0445	Algira	1
5.	LN-21	0820	1250	0430	London	2
6.	PR-97	1115	1515	0400	Paris	2
7.	CR-32	1600	2000	0400	Cairo	3
8.	AD-30	0730	0900	0130	Abu Dhabi	1
9.	AD-32	1700	2120	0420	Abu Dhabi	1
10.	DH-24	1200	1250	50	Dhoha	2

 

Order Table Records

Order
	Order-ID	Order-Type	Order –Time	Hostess-ID
1.	F-879	Food	1230	980
2.	F-234	Food	1500	657
3.	M-989	Movie	0900	991
4.	B-982	Bavarege	0100	837
5.	DF-98	Duety Free	8030	232
6.	DF-24	Duety Free	1845	834
7.	B-987	Bavarage	1920	295
8.	M-129	Movie	2300	398
9.	S-675	Sweet	0030	837
10.	S-383	Sweet	5030	847

 

Air-Hostess Table Records

Air-Hostess
	Hostess-ID	Hostess-Flight-No	Hostess-Class
1.	980	LN-98	Diamon First Class
2.	657	PR-76	Coral Economy Class
3.	991	NY-39	Pearl Business Class
4.	837	AL-24	Coral Economy Class
5.	232	LN-21	Diamon First Class
6.	834	PR-97	Pearl Business Class
7.	295	CR-32	Coral Economy Class
8.	398	AD-30	Coral Economy Class
9.	837	AD-32	Diamon First Class
10.	847	PR-24	Pearl Business Class

Suppliers Table Records

Suppliers
	Sup-ID	Sup-Phone	Sup-Location	Sup-Type	Order-ID
1.	887	02-552 8494	Abu Dhabi	Food	F-879
2.	345	03-948 1884	Al Ain	Food	F-234
3.	454	02-642 2959	Abu Dhabi	Movie	M-989
4.	146	02-483 8477	Abu Dhabi	Beverage	B-982
5.	806	04-737 9284	Dubai	Duty free goods	DF-98
6.	478	04-988 9899	Dubai	Duty free goods	DF-24
7.	844	02-977 7779	Abu Dhabi	Beverage	B-987
8.	476	03-333 7387	Al Ain	Movie	M-129
9.	452	02-876 6859	Abu Dhabi	Sweet	S-675
10.	737	04-676 8767	Dubai	Sweet	S-383

 

Pass-Order Table Records

Pass-Order
	Pass-Id	Order-ID	Pass-Sit-No	Order-Time	Order-Type
1.	2313	F-879	D-20	1230	Food
2.	7369	F-234	C-7	1500	Food
3.	8730	M-989	A-11	0900	Movie
4.	3952	B-982	F-23	0100	Bavarege
5.	8375	DF-98	F-20	8030	Duety Free
6.	1231	DF-24	B-13	1845	Duety Free
7.	2329	B-987	A-29	1920	Bavarage
8.	6756	M-129	E-9	2300	Movie
9.	2380	S-675	C-15	0030	Sweet
10.	1348	S-383	F-15	5030	Sweet

 

First and foremost, both the passengers and the cabin crew expressed their fascination with the new automated inflight system. Nevertheless, they acknowledged the system at first brought confusion especially to those who had travelled and worked with Etihad Airlines using the old system. Majority of them loved and got addicted to the system from the start. Additionally, they the convenience of the system in terms of usage where they claimed it was easier. Furthermore, they attested that the system provided the necessities they were searching for. On the other hand, some were more confused about the system and in return got bored of it. Unlike the vast majority, they claimed the system was not easy to use and did not provided what they wanted.

Relative to the few passengers who had never travelled with Etihad Airlines, were fascinated with this system which they claimed was not present in most of the Airlines they had travelled with.

From the above data records, the primary use of the in-flight system by the passengers was on acquiring catering and shopping services. Out of the 10 survey passengers, 4 passengers on one side ordered food while the others ordered duty free items (shopping) during their flight. In this respect this signifies the crucial services for flight passengers. On the other hand, the remaining two passengers were in interested on entertainment on the in-flight automated system. Contrary, the reading/information received no attention from the passengers interviewed.

As far as the rating of the Etihad’s in-flight automated services is concerned, this was based on the class flight chosen by passengers.

Class Flight

Class	Number of Passengers
Diamond First	3
Coral Economy	4
Pearl Business	3

 

The Pearl Business and Diamond First Classes recorded three passengers each and the remaining went for the coral economy class. Relative to the services ratings of the in-flight automated system: the pearl business class passengers overall recorded the highest ratings (Very Good) on all fronts of the automated inflight system like service, food and drinks, entertainment, shopping, cabin crew availability and punctuality. The diamond first class passengers ratings followed and the coral economy eventually recorded the lowest ratings.

Majority of the passengers had travelled for personal and opted for all classes based on their financial potential. This is attributed to the fact that the average use of the automated services fall on activities related to personal luxuries and pleasures, that is, entertainment and shopping. On the contrary, the passengers who were business oriented were concentrated only on the pearl business and diamond classes which would offer a better business environment. In addition to this, the business oriented passengers utilized the automated system for food and drinks only.

Finally, both the passengers and cabin crews felt that the system was good but it needed some modification. This was mainly on the basis of classes where vast differences were observed. The lower class, coral economy recorded ratings that were lower although accepted as good for a new system. Most notably, it is evident that all the initiatives for this new system were directed towards improving the high classes.

Challenges

We have faced different obstacles in carrying and implementing this project. This obstacles range from individual to the entire group as well.

First of all, time management has been the major hindrance in this project both individually and as a group. This is attributed to the fact that we had other commitments related to our other course requirements, exams and personal projects to attend to. This contributed to us lacking the total focus on our Information Management Project. In addition, because the group members have different class schedules some had morning classes, others evening and so forth. This contributed to lack of uniformity in meeting because most of the times we were limited to early or night hours and weekends. This limited our potential as this times majority of the groups members were usually sleepy and tired. Adequate time is a necessity in ensuring high performance and creativity in any project.

Next, we have been facing communication problems within the group. This is because the group members lived far from each other and also as earlier mentioned had different class schedules. This limited the face to face communication which is vital importance in any project. In addition, also due to the busy schedules some of the members caused communication inconveniences.

Another major obstacle in our project was on the technical part of it. The technical application, we used with our project, the Microsoft Visual Studio brought some challenges. Moreover, not all the group members were efficient in using the application which led to firther delays in seeking for assistance.

Recommendations

Based on the above challenges, we reached certain recommendations to improve our future projects.

In regards to time management, we recommend for the projects to be given early in advance more specifically during the start of the first semester. This would give ample time to come up with creative ideas and collect all the requirements for the project. Most notably, in the beginning of the semester there are usually no few activities and most of the students are available.

Relative to communication barrier, we recommend that the projects to be formulated with members from near geographical locations. This would ensure face to face communication and meetings during the odd hours and time. On the other hand, warding of the project earlier enough would ensure proper planning of the members in terms location and timing.

On the front of technical hitches, we recommend that the students to ue the systems they are well afmuiliar wuith and also be equipped with the relevant technical knowledge of the projects they are supposed to handle by their supervisors.