The American Airlines city ticket office, which is located in Windsor Place on Queen Street, has recently been renovated to create a more suitable working environment. The new ticket counter, which has more drawer space and the built-in capacity to accommodate computers and printers, was custom-made for American Airlines, according to sales representative Mrs. Linda Wilkinson. As well, a separate office has been set aside for Semi-Automated Business Research Environment (SABRE) training. SABRE, which is the world's largest privately owned-real time computer network, provides travel distribution and information services to approximately 27,000 travel agencies in 70 countries.

SABRE, which is driven by 12 huge IBM mainframe computers running in tandem at American's central processing site near Tulsa, Oklahoma, became operational as a reservations system for American Airlines at Briarcliff Manor, New York in 1962. It was later developed as a travel agency booking tool in the mid-1970s after attempts to develop a universal industry-wide booking system failed.

During this early development period, many of the features that are now standards in the travel business were introduced by SABRE -- invoice/itinerary, car and hotel bookings, unbiased flight schedules and displays, and fare quotations and automatic pricing. In the late 1970s, SABRE was used to develop American's sophisticated yield management system, which more accurately than any other airline system predicts booking trends on specific flights and effectively maximises the airline's passenger revenues.

SABRE also handles the reservations functions of many other airlines and handles flight and other operational functions for American. Ten out of the 14 travel agencies in Bermuda have the SABRE computer system, said Mrs.

Wilkinson. And when new staff members are unfamiliar with the system or when there are new developments within the system, the travel agent staff are trained through American agents. "The service is a part of the travel agencies having our system,'' said Mrs. Wilkinson, adding that SABRE is the only system on the Island with such a training process. "People don't have to go abroad for training,'' she said. "They just come into our training room for the day.'' Besides the ticketing office and training room, the American Airlines city ticket office also has a separate sales office, where all marketing, promotions and sales enquiries are managed. "I also help with desk sales promotions, co-ordinate special events and deal with any problems encountered by our ticket agents,'' said Mrs. Wilkinson, who has been working for American Airlines for 18 years. "Our ultimate goal at American Airlines is to satisfy the customer,'' she said. General manager Mrs. Carole DeCouto added: "Ultimately we want to get our passengers to their destinations on time with all of their baggage.'' Indeed, the newly renovated ticket office coupled with the advanced SABRE system aids American Airlines in providing world class customer service. PHOTO CITY TICKET OFFICE -- American Airlines sales representative Mrs. Linda Wilkinson is flanked by agents Ms Stephanie Queary (left) and Ms Cora Bean in the newly renovated American Airlines ticket office, located in the upper level of Windsor Place on Queen Street.

AIRCRAFT COMMUNICATION -- Operation/Ground to Aircraft Communication officers Mr. Kenneth Wainwright and Ms Joan Faye Burrows pictured making contact with an American Airlines flight.

MINI SUPPLEMENT