Enhancing Airlines Operations through ICT Integration into Reservation Procedures: An Evaluation of Its Prospects in Nigeria

Abstract

Aims: The need to counter the challenges posed by manual reservation system became increasingly imperative as the complexity and demand for air travel expanded. The development of computerized reservation system came as management solution to the increasing number of commercial airline companies which put more pressure on their management to continually seek profits, reduce cost, and increase revenues in a competitive environment that only provides marginal profit. This study objective is to find out if there is any relationship between the use of Airline Reservation System and the performance of an airline. The study attempts to evaluate the impact of ICT enhanced reservation procedures on the performance of airline industries with a hope that the information provided will guide airline operators and policy makers in their bid to sustain productivity and maintain efficiency. Study Design: The study adopts an exploratory framework to assess the impact of Airline Reservation System on the performance of airline companies. Place and Duration of Study: The target populations have offices located in Sam-Mbakwe International Cargo Airport Owerri, Imo state.  Methodology: Using survey data collected from airline staff, airline passengers and reservation agents of six airlines in Sam-Mbakwe international Cargo Airport Owerri, Imo state, this study rejects the hypothesis that there is no significant relationship between the use of airline reservation system and the performance viz a viz its returns on assets and also rejects hypothesis 2 which states that the correlation between the performance of an airline (Return on Asset) and the use of the Airline Reservation system is zero. Results: The study result showed an R2 value of 0.8583 for hypothesis 1, which strongly expresses the trend component of the relationshipand therefore supports the alternative hypothesis which states that there is a significant relationship between the use of airline reservation system and the performance viz a viz its returns on assets. Furthermore, the result from the SPSS coefficients analysis shows that for a one unit rise in the number of users of the airline reservation system there is a corresponding .961 rise in the returns on the assets which further indicates a greater performance level, hence accepting Ha 2 which states that “the correlation between the performance of an airline (return on Asset) and the use of an Airline Reservation System is not zero” and rejecting Ho 2. Conclusion: The paper examines the prospects of these findings for airline companies operating in Nigeria.