Han Ximin

    ximhan@126.com

    EVEN before Shenzhen Airlines obtained approval to enter Star Alliance in May last year, the airline had started the integration process by setting up six teams to meet the various requirements of Star Alliance network.

    Among the 87 requirements, 24 are related to services, which will bring convenience to passengers. The product service team promotes the TCI (Through Check-In) service, which requires Shenzhen Airlines to test one by one with 27 Alliance member airlines for check-in and boarding services.

    Because of language barriers and time differences, it takes time for one-to-one appointments with partner airlines to test through check-in service to ensure both sides obtain available seats from respective airline companies. The tests generally take about a month but some have been known to take as long as six months.

    “Our team had worked on this for more than a year. It will all be worth it when our business expands due to the through check-in service,” an employee with the service production department said.

    Before joining the Alliance, Shenzhen Airlines had a handbook of 380 pages on how to handle emergencies, the book is now 1,072 pages long. Star Alliance requires its member companies to have standard flows and contingency plans for every type of emergency.

    Shenzhen Airlines also needed to integrate its data system with the Data Transmission of Flight Operational Information (FlIFO) and Starnet Data network (SDN) for information exchange and share between partners.

    For example, if a passenger flies to Singapore with Singapore Airlines and returns with Shenzhen Airlines, the two airlines need to know the flight status of their counterpart.

    After joining the Star Alliance, Shenzhen Airlines can sell the tickets of other partner airline companies and share customers with them. This requires employees of the company to learn the rules and policies of other member companies. To help employees familiarize themselves with issues relating to Star Alliance, Shenzhen Airlines had training sessions in accounting, law and publicity. A total of 6,000 employees from the company’s ground service, flight, sales, call center, trade and marketing departments received training.