Hitit is in its 25th year and enjoying a conducive partnership ecosystem around the world. With the Crane solution suite, Hitit is honored to be named as a trustworthy and professional IT provider by its partners which vary from start-ups to LCC, legacy, full-service carriers and flag-carriers.
During the life-circle of an airline, Hitit provides both an agile and easy migration process for all its partners and creates tailor-made solutions for their needs. We believe that with Hitit, our focus is to build a strong partnership relying on a cooperative and trustworthy relationship from the beginning of the process. This is the way we think about and approach all partnerships. But don’t just take our word for it. Are you curious about our partners' opinions on Hitit’s performance before, during and after the migration process? We hear you say yes, so let’s take a look at the responses from the management of Hitit’s partners.
In this issue, our guest is Mr. Kashif Rehman Rana, the Chief Systems Officer of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
- How did PIA cross paths with Hitit?
Well, we wanted to commence PIA’s journey of digital transformation and for this purpose, our first step was to search for a digital partner for value co-creation. We wanted a service provider that would enable us to grow as well as grow along with us. We went in the market for open bidding for a Passenger Services System (PSS) provider. We evaluated various solutions but, however, our focus was on finding a cost-effective and robust product along with a Cloud solution and a service-oriented architecture. Above all, we wanted a partner which would be reliable and dependable in terms of support. So, after a rigorous tender process and lengthy discussions, we selected Hitit on its merit and fulfillment of all our expectations.
- What were your first impressions of the Hitit Team?
Well, Hitit’s first impression on me was very different for me as I came from Etihad where we used to work with a large organization; Hitit, comparatively, was different and I was wondering whether the team will be able to be up to the task and what they offered. I visited some of their existing customers and also the Hitit HQ and met the development team. What they have delivered and what we have achieved together is simply phenomenal. The team and the professionalism and the spirit that they bring to the project is remarkable. I give immense credit to the HITIT leadership for having and managing such a great team especially, Madam Nur, the CEO, Mrs. Nevra Onursal Karaagac, the CMO and Mr. Mert Gulcur, the CDO, and PIA PM Asad Bukhari and Project Leader Osama Sheikh. Moreover, with a leading PM Ms. Emine Ordu, the team ensured to deliver on time what they committed. We have nicknamed the PM as the ‘Queen of Cutover’ as the cutover was very smooth and unprecedented
- What were the challenges you had during the implementation period?
I had a long list of challenges but just to name a few, I would mention the non-cooperation from the previous PSS partner which led to further challenges in data migration and non-availability of PIA’s future bookings data; the really tight deadline of five months instead of an industry-standard of approximately eighteen months for going-live due to termination of previous PSS contract; the sudden loss of our distribution channel, GDS, just four weeks prior to cutover, and the limitation on hiring project members within PIA. I could honestly list more.
With these challenges, we kicked off the project, but every day as we peeled the Onion we had more issues than we thought. Luckily, however, with the leadership support from our partner, Hitit, we overcame all challenges from installing boarding pass printers to getting all interline and border security integration to training an aging workforce. We worked on all facets with the army sent from Hitit that not only delivered on their tasks but supported us on our shortcomings as well.
- How do you evaluate Hitit’s performance in regard to the kick-off, implementation, migration and cut-over?
I would not be able to put into words the performance of the team. Words cannot do justice for my appreciation for the team who put in their whole heart, life and soul during the five months period to achieve an unachievable task. I had industry experts meet me in person to put a halt to the project as this has not been done before and the risks were immensely high. We had no choice and we had to take this plunge and having the support of Hitit made the road much smoother.
Just to add to the complications, we lost our GDS relationship a month before cutover. Hitit came up with a solution for us to sell tickets in the form of the ‘Agency Portal Plus’ – an online platform which has that travel agents need to sell PIA tickets along with BSP integrations for all our IATA agents. We had it up and running for our tickets sales at go-live.
The cutover time was especially very tough but kudos to both the teams for a very well-coordinated project - not only at the project management level but also at the operational level. Moreover, I must acknowledge the extraordinary efforts of Ms. Emine, HITIT Project Manager, in handling the cutover amazingly - it was one of the smoothest cutovers I have ever seen. The fact that not even a single flight got canceled is a record in itself as well.
- How long did it take after signing the contract to switch to Crane?
The contract was signed in April 2018 and the final cutover happened in September 2018 - the fastest migration ever of a full-scale national carrier with complicated processes. I do think this could be a world record, can we check with the Guinness World Records, I love to have my name there for some reason!
- How is the post cutover relationship?
Well, since we had a long list of challenges, the post-cutover support was not the average kind expected in such projects. The full Hitit team stayed onboard for an extended time period to iron out issues, streamline processes and monitor progress. I do remember the moment when one of the team members came to me and told me how much she missed her sons as she had been on-site for two months and how difficult it has been for the boys too. Despite all this, we kept going as the stakes were very high for the Pakistan flag carrier.
- Do you have a specific memory to share about the experience of the project?
In order to shed the stress of the project, we arranged activities such as team lunches and getting cakes to celebrate every reason we could -we even had some fake birthdays! Where we had many stressful days, we also had a fair share of joyful moments as well.
I remember that the delivery of boarding pass printers was slightly delayed and that any further delay in their delivery would have meant no cutover - we were constantly making arrangements on calls and had people running around to make sure everything was in order.
At the same time, I had to be admitted to the hospital on the night of cutover with a case of food poisoning and I remember coming back the next morning and seeing everything running smooth. The first question I asked was whether any flights had been canceled and sat down with relief when the answer was No.
- Any suggestions to other airlines who might be considering their PSS solution but might be reluctant/hesitant one way or another?
Well, the biggest dilemma of airlines is that they are not willing to bring change and accepting that change is good for the customer as well as the bottom line figures. We ended up saving 80% on the cost of PSS solution and 70% on domestic tickets’ and 80% on international tickets’ distribution cost.
Along with the cost saving, we gained visibility on new happenings in the market. Also, through the Hitit BI platform, we became aware of the activities of agents with regards to airline inventory and of how ticket cancelations are happening which was very enlightening. Hitit also provided us with the Executive dashboard which allowed us to see flight timelines and delays, if any, and how to avoid the delays by taking proactive actions. I would like to highlight that with this being a Cloud solution we do not need to worry about hardware and uptime and enjoy zero percent dependence on our own infrastructure. In short, it gives PIA the peace of mind it needed.