A Comparison of airline websites

The online travel business is widely expected to be one of the Internet\u27s biggest commerce breakthroughs by the millennium. Airlines have focused their web efforts on reinforcing their relationship with their customers. As the largest airline and the fourth-largest airline in the world respectively, both United Airlines and Northwest Airlines, the leaders of e-commerce in the transportation industry, have established a strong presence at the emerging travel purchase outlets being used by a growing number of airline consumers . The literature review focuses on the application of Blur\u27s effects (Davis, 1998) on the two and describes their main development in customer service and main operations of current travel agents in providing customers with in-time and whole package service. Comparison tables illustrate the detailed features of United Airlines\u27 and Northwest Airlines\u27 Websites regarding the ten attributes of an offer. Overall, the results show that homepage and Internet sales provide the customer conveniences, flexibility and choice. Without question, Internet purchasing, Internet check in, automatic paging, on-board Internet access, new on-line procurement sites, have brought the business-to-business efficiencies that will help organizations contain costs. They are becoming truly interactive places, where customers use information in ways that really add value. The improvements in speed and convenience, including features now available with hand held PDA\u27s, are generating a higher volume of online sales and higher number of repeat Airline Websites Thesis 3 customers. The study shows the new concepts of Internet integration in terms of homepage development in the airline industry. The author believes that airlines should create, establish and apply these new trends to expand their market, keep the niche in the burgeoning e-commerce industry, allow themselves to seize new opportunities in the rapidly developing e-commerce arena, grow, and increase the ability to compete with other rivals in the future