Patent Grant
10320908
This invention relates to an in-flight computing device for aircraft cabin crew. It also relates to the acquisition and dissemination of journey related data such as flight data. It is particularly concerned with such data as is collected and utilised by cabin crew rather than flight deck crew.
At present documentation related to a commercial flight is stored in a mixture of formats. Documentation such as crew manuals and other information that might be required by the flight crew in the cockpit is stored by a portable device such as a laptop or a tablet device and is available to the flight crew, typically in a format such as portable document format (pdf). However, there remains a large amount of paperwork that must be completed by the cabin crew before, during and after the flight. Once the flight has landed, this paperwork is dispatched, typically to a data processing centre in India, where the forms are processed and returned. The returned documentation may include flight reports and reports of safety incidents and information related to specific passengers, for example. This approach to landing flight and post-flight data is very cumbersome and slow and makes it difficult for airlines to react promptly to cabin service related issues and there is a need for an improved system and method for landing this type of passenger related flight data.
A first aspect of the invention resides in a system for use by cabin crew on board an aircraft. The system includes, at a location remote from the aircraft, a server including a database, the server selectively communicating with a plurality of systems external to the system to retrieve information related to a journey to be made by the aircraft, the server running an application for communicating with the external systems to send and receive data to and from the server. A portable computing device is provided on board the aircraft. The portable computing device has a database for receipt and storage of flight related information received from the server, the flight related information including seating information and other passenger related information. The portable device runs an application for real-time communication with the server during a flight for exchange with the server of at least one of seating and passenger related information during the flight.
Preferably, the portable computing device is a tablet computer.
The external systems may include one or more of the following:
The invention also resides in computerised method for cabin crew on board an aircraft. The method comprises receiving at a portable computing device on board the aircraft, flight related information from a remote server. the server is remote from the aircraft and includes a database. The server selectively communicates with a plurality of systems external to the system to retrieve information related to a journey to be made by the aircraft and stores the retrieved information in the database. The server runs an application for communicating with the external systems to send and receive data to and from the server and for communicating at least some of the stored retrieved information to the portable computing device, the flight related information received by the portable computing device including seating information and other passenger related information. The method further comprises storing the received flight related information at a database of the portable computing device. Flight related information is input into the database of the portable computing device during a flight in response to events occurring during the flight and the portable computing device communicates with the server during or after the flight to transmit the inputted flight related information from the portable communications device to the server.
Another aspect of the invention provides a portable computing device for use by cabin crew on board an aircraft, the device configured to: receive on board an aircraft, flight related information from a remote server, the server being remote from the aircraft and including a database, the server selectively communicating with a plurality of external systems to retrieve information related to a journey to be made by the aircraft and storing the retrieved information in the database, the server running an application for communicating with the external systems to send and receive data to and from the server and for communicating at least some of the stored retrieved information to the portable computing device, the flight related information received by the portable computing device including seating information and other passenger related information; store the received flight related information at a database of the portable computing device, receive inputs of flight related information into the database of the portable computing device during a flight in response to events occurring during the flight; and communicate with the server during or after the flight to transmit the inputted flight related information from the portable communications device to the server.
A further aspect of the invention provides a computer-readable medium storing a computer program, the computer program including instructions for causing a portable computing device to: receive on board an aircraft, flight related information from a remote server, the server being remote from the aircraft and including a database, the server selectively communicating with a plurality of external systems to retrieve information related to a journey to be made by the aircraft and storing the retrieved information in the database, the server running an application for communicating with the external systems to send and receive data to and from the server and for communicating at least some of the stored retrieved information to the portable computing device, the flight related information received by the portable computing device including seating information and other passenger related information; store the received flight related information at a database of the portable computing device receive inputs of flight related information into the database of the portable computing device during a flight in response to events occurring during the flight; and communicate with the server during or after the flight to transmit the inputted flight related information from the portable communications device to the server.
In any of the above aspects, the portable computing device may be a tablet computer.
In any of the above information, the flight related information may include one or more of a seat map, passenger name record items, the flight number, departure and arrival times, a passenger name list, frequent flyer profile information and social media profiles of passengers.
The above aspects of the invention may further comprise synchronising the server database and the portable computing device database.
The above aspects of the invention may further comprise inputting into the portable computing database, during the flight, data relating to faults identified by cabin crew during the flight, storing the data relating to faults and sending the data to the server during the flight.
In an embodiment of aspects of the invention the portable computing device may include a camera and the data relating to faults may include a photograph of an item identified as faulty. The item may be a passenger seat. The data sent to the server may be authorised by signature, for example by a senior crew member.
In an embodiment of aspects of the invention, the flight related information received from the server may include a delayed baggage report and associated passenger information, the method comprising inputting passenger contact data and/or baggage identification data into the portable computing device and sending the data to the server. The baggage identification data may include baggage colour and baggage style.
Embodiments of aspects of the invention may include inputting into the portable computing database, during the flight, data relating to complaints notified to cabin crew during the flight, storing the data relating to complaints, sending the data to the server during the flight, and receiving at the portable computing device, from the server, a response to the complaint during the flight.
Preferably, the portable computing device is configured to display a seat map including passenger related information for each seat.
Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
The system comprises a portable computing apparatus 10 which may comprise a tablet computer or another suitable portable device such as, but not limited, to a smart phone or a laptop. In the following description the embodiment will be described in the context of a tablet device running an open source operating system such as Android developed by the Open Handset Alliance. Other operating systems may be used as preferred by the system provider. The tablet device runs a cabin crew software application features of which will be described and which is referred to hereafter as CrewTab. The term Cabin Crew Application merely refers to a software application running on the tablet which is suitable for use by, and intended for use by, one or more member of an aircraft cabin crew. Although the embodiment is described with respect to a simple tablet device, a plurality of tablet devices may be used with the number being dependent on the number of crew serving on the aircraft.
The tablet devices running the CrewTab Application communicate with a remote server running a web-based application 12 referred to hereafter as CrewApp. The tablet and CrewTab application provide a user interface permitting crew interaction with the system and the server running the CrewApp application providing interfaces with external components providing communication and data exchanges required with external information sources. Thus, in
The operation of the system may be divided into three phases: pre-flight, in-flight and post-fight. Each of these will now be described.
Pre-Flight Phase
This phase is illustrated schematically in
The pre-flight process may be initiated programmatically at a pre-determined time before flight departure, or manually from the tablet device via the CrewTab application. As seen in
In-Flight Phase
During the flight phase, the CrewTab application may be disconnected from the CrewApp application and may involve only the tablet device which may be used only by the cabin crew manager, a designated person, or by multiple crew members if multiple devices are in use.
The tablet device stores, in an on-board database 32 shown in
Post-Flight Phase
During the post-flight phase passenger and other data gathered in-fight is transferred to a repository for subsequent interrogation. The completed forms are sent by email of other electronic communication to their intended destination. This phase is illustrated in
The web services 28 (
The server may use Apache Tomcat as an open source web server, or any other suitable web server. The web server may implement the following web services illustrated in
Still referring to
In addition to these external systems, seat maps and CrewApp each comprise a set of database tables containing, respectively, the seat map inventory and the operational data required for the CrewTab application. Each may be accessed by a JDBC connection and SQL query.
The CrewTab tablet application may use any suitable operating system. Android® provided by Google Inc. is one presently preferred platform. Data transmitted to and from the CrewTab application may be in JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) format.
Referring to
The pre-flight phase begins when the Cabin Crew Manager or other personnel starts the application from the tablet User Interface (UI) or at a predetermined time based on the scheduled time of departure of flights. The CrewApp application starts a workflow that results in all data necessary for the application being gathered and loaded into the CrewApp database.
A CrewTab database houses the data required to satisfy the data prerequisites of the system. The database is a subset of the CrewApp database and is the source of data for the CrewTab application, including seat map information, passenger information and flight information.
In
The in-flight phase may be an offline utilisation of the data gathered during the pre-flight phase. The Android tablet may be out of communication range once the fight has departed and is airborne; therefore, the only data source available is the local database.
The CrewTab application will be able to display seat map, passenger and flight information from the data present in the local database. The CrewTag UI allows presentation of this information in various formats e.g. as a seat map display, as a passenger info popup or as flight information populated onto the screen real estate.
In addition to displaying the seat, passenger and flight information and cabin crew manager or other operator, may enter data into forms made available through the CrewTab application. The forms are electronic representations of paper-based versions.
In the post-flight phase the contents of the CrewTab tablet local database are synchronised with the CrewApp database for post-flight processing of data gathered in-flight. The cabin crew manager or other user starts this procedure by selecting an option on the CrewTab UI. Or this process can be triggered automatically when the Android tablet detects an internet connection and gets back online.
The CrewTab application sends data to the CrewApp application using the SyncCrewTab web service with indicators set to identify this as the post-flight phase.
Any forms which have been completed are emailed to specific destination for subsequent processing. This process is shown as steps 1 to 4 in
CrewApp Web Application
The CrewApp web application provides a REST web service interface for interaction with the CrewTab application. Data transmitted between the CrewApp and CrewTab applications may be in JSON format, whilst data exchange between the CrewApp and other web services may be in XML. REST type web services provide the interface to the data source systems and the Jersey implementation of JAX-RS may be used for data manipulation.
Pre-Flight Phase
In the pre-flight phase the data required for the application is aggregated and delivered to the CrewTab application. The CrewApp application is invoked by the receipt of a request for the SyncCrewTab web service.
The CrewApp co-ordinates the gathering of information from the disparate data sources and stores the results in the database. When all necessary data is obtained and contained in the database the CrewApp sends the data to the CrewTab application for use in the next phases of application.
The information includes the following although this information is exemplary only; other information may be gathered and same or all of the information listed below may not be included:
The process flow is shown in
During the flight, the CrewApp can communicate with the CrewTab application if the CrewTab is being used on a ‘connected flight’. A connected flight is a flight where there is an Internet connection available.
Post-Flight Phase
The post-flight phase is initiated by the receipt of a request for the SyncCrewTab web service with indicators set to identify the post-flight phase.
Data is received as part of the web service request and is written on the CrewApp database. The data is passenger information and complete forms which have been gathered by the CrewData application in-flight phase.
The forms will be emailed or otherwise transmitted to a configured email address for human workflow processes and the passenger data will be archived thus leaving it available for processing by other systems.
The process steps are as follows:
At step 100, the CrewTab application pre-flight action is initiated by the cabin crew manager. The CrewTab local database tables are prepared at step 102 and the CrewApp web service SyncCrewTab is invoked at step 104 to initiate the flow of events required to populate the CrewApp database. At step 106, the CrewApp database tables are prepared for the flight and at step 108 the CrewApp invokes web services to obtain the data necessary to populate the CrewApp database for the flight. The workflow and event processing is managed by the CrewApp application. Data parsing, transformation and aggregation is handled in this step.
Participating systems such as those shown in
During a flight the CrewTab application is accessed at step 118 and interrogates the local database to obtain data at step 120. The CrewTab application displays the data retrieved from the database at step 122. The post-flight action is initiated by the cabin crew manager at step 124 and the CrewApp database is updated with the data gathered in-flight at step 128. An email, with a completed form attached, is sent using the SendMail web service and delivered to the recipient at step 128. Finally, the CrewApp database is archived and the information is available for use by other applications.
The embodiment described illustrates how flight related data may be provided to cabin crew and in-flight data may be stored and synchronised with a central database post-flight. Relevant flight related data may then be sent electronically as part of a required flight report.
On the left hand side of the display is a series of menus. The first 220 and enables the crew member to view passengers who have checked in, children on board, special meals that have been ordered by passengers, special services that are required, for example assistance with disabled passengers, loyalty members who are on board and VIP members on board. Beneath that is a menu item 230 labelled forms which gives the crew member access to various forms that can be submitted during and after the flight and examples of which are described below.
Menu item 240 gives the crew access to various user manuals that would otherwise have to be stored as hard copies and menu item 250 gives access to information about other crew members on board.
The central panel displays details of the number of passengers that have checked into the flight and divides these between first, business and standard economy classes. In the example shown there are 0 passengers in first class, 18 in business class and 185 in economy class. Also displayed is the maximum capacity of the aircraft in this configuration: 8 first class seats, 64 business class and 415 economy seats.
Below the passenger loading information 270 is a listing of passengers 280 against whom remarks have been stored in the system and their seats. In this case four such passengers are shown but this number may vary and a scroll bar may be used if necessary. The main display indicate the general nature of the remark, as shown all passengers listed are senior loyalty members. Each passenger record can be accessed individually to obtain more information.
At the bottom of the panel is an alert area 420 which displays important information for example, special assistance or dietary requirements. Above is a notes area 430 into which the cabin crew can enter notes relating to the passenger.
The system described may also be used to handle passenger complaints. At present, if a passenger raises a complaint on board a flight, the cabin manager is required to fill out a complaint form. The complaint may be related to any aspect of the passenger's experience, such as the level of service, delays, cabin crew performance etc. The completed form is sent to the airline's head office when the plane returns to the head office airport and then sent to the customer service department who will consider the complaint and make the appropriate response, which may be an apology or some sort of compensation. This may take place several days after the flight and location of the passenger may not be straightforward. The customer service department may only hold sketchy details of the passenger, such as frequent flyer account details and the passenger may be travelling away from home when the complaint is handled.
Embodiments of the present invention enable the complaint to be logged in the CrewTab database as soon as it is received in-flight. The CrewTab contains all relevant data about the passenger and the complaint can be transferred electronically as soon as the flight lands. Upon receipt the customer services department can assess the complaint and communicate with the passenger in real time, before the passenger has left the airport. The complaint form may be accessed through the forms menu 230 and processed in a manner similar to that described for the seat defect report and be authenticated by the signature either of the passenger or a crew member, depending on the nature of the complaint.
In the embodiments described, the CrewTab application disconnects from the server and the CrewApp application during the in-flight phase. When the flight lands, the CrewTab reconnects and transfers data to CrewApp as described. In an alternative embodiment the CrewTab remains connected to CrewApp during the in-flight phase. This requires some kind of in flight internet access, for example Wi-Fi, to be available during the flight. This is already possible on some airlines and likely to become more common in the future. Thus, the complaint logging process described above could be transmitted in real time enabling a response to be received, from the airlines head office while a flight is still in progress, giving the passenger the satisfaction of having their complaint resolved while the flight is still in progress. Moreover, the seat damage report may be transmitted in flight so that engineers and ground staff at the destination airport are aware of the damage and can be ready to fix it in the turnaround time available for the flight. This is most advantageous as it allows damage to be fixed extremely quickly after detection and ensures that the inconvenience to a passenger is not carried over to future passengers using the same seat.
In a further embodiment, on-line in-flight the system described may be used to aid baggage handling. As shown in
Various modifications to the embodiments described are possible and will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined by the following claims.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4821118 | Lafreniere | Apr 1989 | A |
| 5270921 | Hornick | Dec 1993 | A |
| 5748850 | Sakurai | May 1998 | A |
| 5793639 | Yamazaki | Aug 1998 | A |
| 5897620 | Walker | Apr 1999 | A |
| 5918209 | Campbell et al. | Jun 1999 | A |
| 6044353 | Pugliese, III | Mar 2000 | A |
| 6108636 | Yap et al. | Aug 2000 | A |
| 6112185 | Walker et al. | Aug 2000 | A |
| 6158658 | Barclay | Dec 2000 | A |
| 6192416 | Baxter | Feb 2001 | B1 |
| 6259405 | Stewart | Jul 2001 | B1 |
| 6367016 | Lambert et al. | Apr 2002 | B1 |
| 6414635 | Stewart | Jul 2002 | B1 |
| 6553336 | Johnson | Apr 2003 | B1 |
| 6661340 | Saylor et al. | Dec 2003 | B1 |
| 6695203 | Iki et al. | Feb 2004 | B2 |
| 6735630 | Gelvin | May 2004 | B1 |
| 6736322 | Gobburu | May 2004 | B2 |
| 6757712 | Bastian | Jun 2004 | B1 |
| 6758394 | Maskatiya | Jul 2004 | B2 |
| 6760778 | Nelson et al. | Jul 2004 | B1 |
| 6869023 | Hawes et al. | Mar 2005 | B2 |
| 6972682 | Lareau | Dec 2005 | B2 |
| 7027808 | Wesby | Apr 2006 | B2 |
| 7035828 | Ketonen et al. | Apr 2006 | B2 |
| 7212978 | Kowal et al. | May 2007 | B2 |
| 7258276 | Linton et al. | Aug 2007 | B2 |
| 7275689 | Mak | Oct 2007 | B2 |
| 7327262 | Motteram et al. | Feb 2008 | B2 |
| 7421319 | Stefani | Sep 2008 | B2 |
| 7440967 | Chidlovskii | Oct 2008 | B2 |
| 7454203 | Levitan | Nov 2008 | B2 |
| 7483696 | Mitchell | Jan 2009 | B1 |
| 7486171 | Kim | Feb 2009 | B2 |
| 7486960 | Brady, Jr. et al. | Feb 2009 | B2 |
| 7539985 | Marvin | May 2009 | B2 |
| 7571206 | Koning et al. | Aug 2009 | B2 |
| 7599847 | Block | Oct 2009 | B2 |
| 7607080 | Heuer et al. | Oct 2009 | B2 |
| 7664672 | Walker et al. | Feb 2010 | B1 |
| 7668873 | Davis et al. | Feb 2010 | B2 |
| 7685009 | Halavais et al. | Mar 2010 | B2 |
| 7702328 | Lemond et al. | Apr 2010 | B2 |
| 7720724 | Kurashige | May 2010 | B2 |
| 7739292 | Falk et al. | Jun 2010 | B2 |
| 7786899 | Baker et al. | Aug 2010 | B2 |
| 7805523 | Mitchell et al. | Sep 2010 | B2 |
| 7870101 | Hubbard et al. | Jan 2011 | B2 |
| 7882137 | Lepman | Feb 2011 | B2 |
| 7907067 | Baker et al. | Mar 2011 | B2 |
| 7907545 | Ric | Mar 2011 | B2 |
| 7949335 | Stefani et al. | May 2011 | B2 |
| 7954712 | Babcock et al. | Jun 2011 | B2 |
| 8001519 | Conallen et al. | Aug 2011 | B2 |
| 8058972 | Mohanty | Nov 2011 | B2 |
| 8087583 | Hawes | Jan 2012 | B2 |
| 8090603 | Payne et al. | Jan 2012 | B2 |
| 8117051 | Sauvage et al. | Feb 2012 | B2 |
| 8160759 | Baker et al. | Apr 2012 | B2 |
| 8165809 | Baker et al. | Apr 2012 | B1 |
| 8170535 | Lopes et al. | May 2012 | B1 |
| 8195151 | Cerra, II et al. | Jun 2012 | B2 |
| 8214144 | Baker et al. | Jul 2012 | B2 |
| 8229458 | Busch | Jul 2012 | B2 |
| 8296281 | Baker et al. | Oct 2012 | B2 |
| 8332136 | Baker et al. | Dec 2012 | B2 |
| 8467726 | Shirakata | Jun 2013 | B2 |
| 8509441 | Yoon | Aug 2013 | B2 |
| 8521681 | Ouchi | Aug 2013 | B2 |
| 8606508 | Baker et al. | Dec 2013 | B2 |
| 8631358 | Louch | Jan 2014 | B2 |
| 8665238 | Gossweiler, III | Mar 2014 | B1 |
| 8671009 | Coley et al. | Mar 2014 | B1 |
| 8700236 | Berman | Apr 2014 | B1 |
| 8713661 | Vysogorets et al. | Apr 2014 | B2 |
| 8949142 | Angrish | Feb 2015 | B1 |
| 8977568 | Schattauer | Mar 2015 | B1 |
| 9024752 | Tumayan | May 2015 | B2 |
| 9026461 | Calman | May 2015 | B2 |
| 9047512 | Otis | Jun 2015 | B2 |
| 9134955 | Healey | Sep 2015 | B2 |
| 9141325 | Dersy | Sep 2015 | B2 |
| 9239246 | Jones | Jan 2016 | B2 |
| 9275550 | Stefani | Mar 2016 | B1 |
| 9541632 | Frank | Jan 2017 | B2 |
| 9552564 | Martenis | Jan 2017 | B1 |
| 9589262 | Graylin | Mar 2017 | B2 |
| 9589405 | Cabouli | Mar 2017 | B2 |
| 9599989 | Brown | Mar 2017 | B1 |
| 9710920 | Utsunomiya | Jul 2017 | B2 |
| 9749831 | Lee | Aug 2017 | B2 |
| 20020138184 | Kipersztok | Sep 2002 | A1 |
| 20020138625 | Bruner et al. | Sep 2002 | A1 |
| 20020160773 | Gresham | Oct 2002 | A1 |
| 20030034390 | Linton et al. | Feb 2003 | A1 |
| 20030048471 | Lundgren | Mar 2003 | A1 |
| 20030093187 | Walker | May 2003 | A1 |
| 20030111530 | Iki et al. | Jun 2003 | A1 |
| 20030130769 | Farley et al. | Jul 2003 | A1 |
| 20030146871 | Karr et al. | Aug 2003 | A1 |
| 20030150922 | Hawes | Aug 2003 | A1 |
| 20030220116 | Sagefalk et al. | Nov 2003 | A1 |
| 20040030855 | Takeuchi et al. | Feb 2004 | A1 |
| 20040039617 | Maycotte et al. | Feb 2004 | A1 |
| 20040128193 | Brice et al. | Jul 2004 | A1 |
| 20040249836 | Reynders et al. | Dec 2004 | A1 |
| 20050004919 | Green et al. | Jan 2005 | A1 |
| 20050033666 | Kurashige | Feb 2005 | A1 |
| 20050071206 | Berge | Mar 2005 | A1 |
| 20050228702 | Fairbanks et al. | Oct 2005 | A1 |
| 20050258230 | Wiater | Nov 2005 | A1 |
| 20050258247 | Hawes | Nov 2005 | A1 |
| 20060004781 | Burgel et al. | Jan 2006 | A1 |
| 20060075934 | Ram | Apr 2006 | A1 |
| 20060085451 | Pal et al. | Apr 2006 | A1 |
| 20060095434 | McCullough et al. | May 2006 | A1 |
| 20060097046 | Fassio et al. | May 2006 | A1 |
| 20060173680 | Verhasselt et al. | Aug 2006 | A1 |
| 20060206246 | Walker | Sep 2006 | A1 |
| 20060234700 | Funderburk | Oct 2006 | A1 |
| 20060238384 | Hess et al. | Oct 2006 | A1 |
| 20060259456 | Falk et al. | Nov 2006 | A1 |
| 20060277231 | Kral et al. | Dec 2006 | A1 |
| 20060288021 | Kojima | Dec 2006 | A1 |
| 20070055416 | Allen | Mar 2007 | A1 |
| 20070072590 | Levitan | Mar 2007 | A1 |
| 20070111725 | Kauffman et al. | May 2007 | A1 |
| 20070127460 | Wilber | Jun 2007 | A1 |
| 20070133487 | Wang et al. | Jun 2007 | A1 |
| 20070149216 | Misikangas | Jun 2007 | A1 |
| 20070157078 | Anderson | Jul 2007 | A1 |
| 20070198314 | Andrew et al. | Aug 2007 | A1 |
| 20070222595 | Motteram et al. | Sep 2007 | A1 |
| 20070232164 | Swan | Oct 2007 | A1 |
| 20070233617 | Gillespie | Oct 2007 | A1 |
| 20070244766 | Goel | Oct 2007 | A1 |
| 20070250356 | Douglas | Oct 2007 | A1 |
| 20070265881 | El Elman et al. | Nov 2007 | A1 |
| 20070273514 | Winand et al. | Nov 2007 | A1 |
| 20080010005 | Small | Jan 2008 | A1 |
| 20080015926 | Marcken | Jan 2008 | A1 |
| 20080027765 | Gunn et al. | Jan 2008 | A1 |
| 20080027955 | May et al. | Jan 2008 | A1 |
| 20080046298 | Ben-Yehuda et al. | Feb 2008 | A1 |
| 20080046962 | Yukawa | Feb 2008 | A1 |
| 20080065480 | Baker et al. | Mar 2008 | A1 |
| 20080070517 | Brady et al. | Mar 2008 | A1 |
| 20080091445 | Mihic | Apr 2008 | A1 |
| 20080099552 | Grillion | May 2008 | A1 |
| 20080140226 | Ganev | Jun 2008 | A1 |
| 20080140434 | O'Brien | Jun 2008 | A1 |
| 20080224823 | Lawson et al. | Sep 2008 | A1 |
| 20080229228 | Cohen | Sep 2008 | A1 |
| 20090010200 | Lauer et al. | Jan 2009 | A1 |
| 20090015398 | Bhogal et al. | Jan 2009 | A1 |
| 20090030781 | Mehta et al. | Jan 2009 | A1 |
| 20090033491 | Saunders | Feb 2009 | A1 |
| 20090063219 | Raufaste et al. | Mar 2009 | A1 |
| 20090070841 | Buga et al. | Mar 2009 | A1 |
| 20090081947 | Margis | Mar 2009 | A1 |
| 20090108649 | Kneller | Apr 2009 | A1 |
| 20090112473 | Lu et al. | Apr 2009 | A1 |
| 20090164500 | Mathur et al. | Jun 2009 | A1 |
| 20090182590 | Ashby et al. | Jul 2009 | A1 |
| 20090187494 | Heath | Jul 2009 | A1 |
| 20090192659 | Beebe | Jul 2009 | A1 |
| 20090196201 | Ric | Aug 2009 | A1 |
| 20090256675 | Kerr | Oct 2009 | A1 |
| 20090259549 | Winand et al. | Oct 2009 | A1 |
| 20090265056 | Yukawa | Oct 2009 | A1 |
| 20090266882 | Sajkowsky | Oct 2009 | A1 |
| 20090274097 | Budinger | Nov 2009 | A1 |
| 20090287513 | Anderson et al. | Nov 2009 | A1 |
| 20090288123 | Havlovick | Nov 2009 | A1 |
| 20090307020 | Viale et al. | Dec 2009 | A1 |
| 20090310530 | Cerra, II et al. | Dec 2009 | A1 |
| 20090313601 | Baird et al. | Dec 2009 | A1 |
| 20100027461 | Bothorel | Feb 2010 | A1 |
| 20100030591 | Viard et al. | Feb 2010 | A1 |
| 20100039984 | Brownrigg | Feb 2010 | A1 |
| 20100065632 | Babcock et al. | Mar 2010 | A1 |
| 20100070376 | Proud | Mar 2010 | A1 |
| 20100076795 | Steir et al. | Mar 2010 | A1 |
| 20100076826 | Bayne | Mar 2010 | A1 |
| 20100078475 | Lin | Apr 2010 | A1 |
| 20100102934 | Guichard | Apr 2010 | A1 |
| 20100106870 | Saugnac | Apr 2010 | A1 |
| 20100159871 | Tester | Jun 2010 | A1 |
| 20100190510 | Maranhas et al. | Jul 2010 | A1 |
| 20100191782 | Brzozowski | Jul 2010 | A1 |
| 20100198628 | Rayner | Aug 2010 | A1 |
| 20100205448 | Tarhan et al. | Aug 2010 | A1 |
| 20100245034 | D'Oliveiro et al. | Sep 2010 | A1 |
| 20100268656 | Teicher | Oct 2010 | A1 |
| 20100332358 | Owens | Dec 2010 | A1 |
| 20110004832 | Canal | Jan 2011 | A1 |
| 20110018769 | Misikangas et al. | Jan 2011 | A1 |
| 20110028160 | Roeding et al. | Feb 2011 | A1 |
| 20110040595 | Chou | Feb 2011 | A1 |
| 20110119183 | Berman | May 2011 | A1 |
| 20110227737 | Kamins | Sep 2011 | A1 |
| 20120035965 | Maguire et al. | Feb 2012 | A1 |
| 20120041313 | Tanaka | Feb 2012 | A1 |
| 20120042263 | Rapaport et al. | Feb 2012 | A1 |
| 20120075168 | Osterhout et al. | Mar 2012 | A1 |
| 20120129546 | Yang et al. | May 2012 | A1 |
| 20120200390 | Saravanan | Aug 2012 | A1 |
| 20120203578 | Baggett et al. | Aug 2012 | A1 |
| 20120284108 | Fontana et al. | Nov 2012 | A1 |
| 20130066487 | Holder | Mar 2013 | A1 |
| 20130066659 | Denison | Mar 2013 | A1 |
| 20130069985 | Wong et al. | Mar 2013 | A1 |
| 20130141313 | Zhou et al. | Jun 2013 | A1 |
| 20130210387 | Lynch | Aug 2013 | A1 |
| 20130234849 | Gupta | Sep 2013 | A1 |
| 20130267255 | Liu et al. | Oct 2013 | A1 |
| 20130295966 | Dingler et al. | Nov 2013 | A1 |
| 20130297103 | Baker et al. | Nov 2013 | A1 |
| 20130314257 | Macrae | Nov 2013 | A1 |
| 20130325526 | Tyler | Dec 2013 | A1 |
| 20140006070 | Stamler | Jan 2014 | A1 |
| 20140039717 | Henkel | Feb 2014 | A1 |
| 20140052482 | Le Marier | Feb 2014 | A1 |
| 20140067244 | Baker et al. | Mar 2014 | A1 |
| 20140075506 | Davis | Mar 2014 | A1 |
| 20140123315 | Baker et al. | May 2014 | A1 |
| 20140223043 | Dersy | Aug 2014 | A1 |
| 20160152350 | Puentes | Jun 2016 | A1 |
| 20160180255 | Goedemondt | Jun 2016 | A1 |
| 20170004444 | Krasko | Jan 2017 | A1 |
| 20170032263 | Yuan | Feb 2017 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 2002317935 | Jan 2003 | AU |
| 101436185 | May 2009 | CN |
| 10357831 | Jul 2005 | DE |
| 102009020228 | Nov 2010 | DE |
| 1308864 | May 2003 | EP |
| 1318463 | Jun 2003 | EP |
| 0770546 | Dec 2003 | EP |
| 1454306 | Sep 2004 | EP |
| 1 610 094 | Dec 2005 | EP |
| 1 679 624 | Jul 2006 | EP |
| 1679624 | Jul 2006 | EP |
| 1874001 | Jan 2008 | EP |
| 2088543 | Aug 2009 | EP |
| 2088569 | Aug 2009 | EP |
| 2222053 | Aug 2010 | EP |
| 2290600 | Mar 2011 | EP |
| 2362354 | Aug 2011 | EP |
| 2 390 845 | Nov 2011 | EP |
| 2474931 | Jul 2012 | EP |
| 2932902 | Dec 2016 | EP |
| 1872294 | Nov 2017 | EP |
| 2366945 | Mar 2002 | GB |
| 2 408 131 | Mar 2006 | GB |
| 2418511 | Mar 2006 | GB |
| 2469026 | Oct 2010 | GB |
| 2470897 | Dec 2010 | GB |
| 2501144 | Oct 2013 | GB |
| 2003157984 | May 2003 | JP |
| 2005135199 | May 2005 | JP |
| 2006053724 | Feb 2006 | JP |
| 2008117340 | May 2008 | JP |
| 2008171181 | Jul 2008 | JP |
| 2009093603 | Apr 2009 | JP |
| 2017129981 | Jul 2017 | JP |
| 200073954 | Dec 2000 | WO |
| 200135269 | May 2001 | WO |
| 200135289 | May 2001 | WO |
| 0215582 | Feb 2002 | WO |
| 03005237 | Jan 2003 | WO |
| 2004045106 | Mar 2004 | WO |
| 2006010774 | Feb 2006 | WO |
| 2008055181 | May 2008 | WO |
| 2009002139 | Dec 2008 | WO |
| 2009021068 | Feb 2009 | WO |
| 2009058505 | May 2009 | WO |
| 2009091553 | Jul 2009 | WO |
| 2011057323 | May 2011 | WO |
| 2011088233 | Jul 2011 | WO |
| 2012106075 | Aug 2012 | WO |
| 2012105829 | Sep 2012 | WO |
| 2013079512 | Jun 2013 | WO |
| Entry |
|---|
| Marmasse, M., et al., Location-aware information delivery with comMotion, MIT Media Laboratory, Cambridge, MA, HUC 2000 Proceedings, p. 157-171, Springer-Verlag. |
| Chen, G., et al., A Survey of Context-Aware Mobile Computing Research, Darmouth College, Department of Computer Science, TR2000-381, p. 1-16, Hanover, New Hampshire. |
| Munoz, M. et al., Context-Aware Mobile Communication in Hospitals, IEEE Computer Society, p. 38-46, Sep. 2003. |
| Schwinger, W., et al., Context-awareness in Mobile Tourism Guides—A Comprehensive Survey, Austin Federal Ministry for Education, Science, and Culture, and the European Social Fund, p. 1-20, 2002. |
| Kinneging, T., Machine Readable Travel Documents—Technical Report: PKI for Machine Readable Travel Documents Offering ICC Read-Only Access, PKI Task Force, International Civil Aviation Organization, Version 1.1, Oct. 1, 2004. |
| International Search Report and the Written Opinion of the International Search Authority (EPO) for PCT/EP2013/057497 dated Jun. 27, 2013. |
| Singapore Search Report of Application No. 201306353-2, dated Apr. 11, 2014, by the Danish Patent and Trademark Office. |
| Singapore Written Opinion of Application No. 201306353-2, dated Apr. 11, 2014, by the Danish Patent and Trademark Office. |
| Susan Stellin, “Automation Is Considered for Checking IDs in Airports”, Business Day, The New York Times, Mar. 19, 2012, 3 pages, retrieved Sep. 4, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/20/business/tsa-is-considering-automating-id-checks.html. |
| Robert Longley, “TSA's New ID, Boarding Pass Scanning System Draws Criticism”, US Government, About.com, Aug. 2, 2012, 2 pages, retrieved online on Jul. 30, 2014, http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/defenseandsecurity/a/Tsa-Boarding-Pass-Scanning-System-Draws-Criticism.htm#&newsissues&newsissues. |
| Search Report of Application No. GB 1403967.1, received from the UK Intellectual Property Office dated Aug. 4, 2014. |
| Examination Opinion of Application No. GB 1403967.1, received from the UK Intellectual Property Office dated Aug. 5, 2014. |
| Search Report of Singapore Application No. 201306353-2, received from the Danish Patent and Trademark Office dated Jun. 16, 2014. |
| Written Opinion of Singapore Application No. 201306353-2, received from the Danish Patent and Trademark Office dated Jun. 16, 2014. |
| Sam Schechner, “Airlines Entertain Tablet Ideas—Rather Than Wiring Planes for In-Flight Movies, Some Hand Out iPads”, http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390443916104578020601759253578, Sep. 2012. |
| Mary Kirby, “Personal Services—In-flight connectivity poised to change the passenger experience for ever”, http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/personal-services-in-flight-connectivity-poised-to-change-the-passenger-experience-for-332765/, Sep. 2009. |
| Lawrence Kitson, “The Future of In-flight: Part Two—The Concierge Concept”, http://ustwo.com/blog/the-future-of-in-flight-part-two-the-concierge-concept/, Apr. 2012. |
| Examination Report of Malaysian Application No. 2013001405, received from the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia dated Oct. 28, 2014. |
| Marmesse, M., et al., Location-aware Information Delivery with comMotion, MIT Media Laboratory, Cambridge, MA, HUC 2000 Proceedings, pp. 157-171, Springer-Verlag. |
| Chen, G., et al., A Survey of Context-Aware Mobile Computing Research, Dartmouth College, Department of Computer Science, Hanover, New Hampshire. |
| Munoz, M., et al., Context-Aware Mobile Communication in Hospitals, IEEE Computer Society, Sep. 2003. |
| Schwinger, W., et al., Context-Aware in Mobile Tourism Guides—A Comprehensive Survey, Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Science, and Culture, and the European Social Fund, 2002. |
| International Civil Aviation Organization, Machine Readable Travel Documents, Part 1, Machine Readable Passports—vol. 1, Specifications for Electronically Enabled Passports with Biometric Identification Capability, Sixth Edition, 99 pages, 2006. |
| International Civil Aviation Organization, Machine Readable Travel Documents, Part 1, Machine Readable Passports—vol. 2, Passports with Machine Readable Data Stored in Optical Character Recognition Format, Sixth Edition, 131 pages, 2006. |
| International Civil Aviation Organization, Machine Readable Travel Documents, Part 3, Machine Readable Official Travel Documents—vol. 1, MRtds with Machine Readable Data Stored in Optical Character Recognition Text International Civil Aviation Organization, Third Edition, 122 pages, 2008. |
| International Civil Aviation Organization, Machine Readable Travel Documents, Part 3, Machine Readable Official Travel Documents—vol. 2, Specifications for Electronically Enabled MRtds with Biometric Identification Capability, Third Edition, 149 pages, 2008. |
| Dunkel, Jürgen, et al., Model-Driven Architecture for Mobile Applications, pp. 464-477, 2007, Hannover University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Department of Computer Sciences, Hannover Germany. |
| Glushko, Robert J., et al., Bridging the “Front Stage” and “Back Stage” in Service System Design, pp. 1-10, 2008, University of California, Berkely, School of Information, Proceedings of the 41st Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). |
| Johnston, Michael, et al., Multimodal Applications from Mobile to Kiosk, 4 pages, AT&T Research, Florham Park, New Jersey, USA. |
| Kindervater, Gerard, Revenue Management in the Airline Passenger Industry, 24 pages, AirFrance KLM. |
| Li, Quanzhong, et al., XVM: A Bridge Between XML Data and Its Behavior, 9 pages, May 17-22, 2004, 13th International Conference on World Wide Web, New York, New York, USA. |
| Madria, Sanjay, An XML Schema Integration and Query Mechanism System, pp. 266-303, 2007, Elsevier B.V., Science Direct, Data & Knowledge Engineering 65 (2008). |
| McGuire, Kelly A., et al., The Future of Revenue Management, 5 pages, 2009, SAS Global Forum 2009, SAS Institute, Inc. |
| Smith, Barry C., et al., Yield Management at American Airlines, pp. 8-31, 1992, American Airlines Decision Technologies, Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, Texas, USA. |
| Xu, Liping, et al., A Model of Capacity Control with Overbooking for a Two-leg Airlines Network, 5 pages, 2008, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). |
| Danish Patent and Trademark Office, Written Opinion of Singapore Application No. 201301978-1, filed Jan. 27, 2012. |
| Hungarian Intellectual Property Office, Search Report of Singapore Application No. 201301980-7, filed Mar. 30, 2012. |
| Hungarian Intellectual Property Office, Written Opinion of Singapore Application No. 201301980-7, filed Mar. 30, 2012. |
| AIRCOM Server Administrator Guide, SITA Airline Telecommunications and Information Services, Feb. 19, 2013, pp. 1-280. |
| AIRCOM Server User Guide, SITA Airline Telecommunications and Information Services, Jan. 24, 2013, pp. 1-153. |
| Caliendo, et al., Social Networks, Job Search Methods and Reservation Wages: Evidence for Germany, IZA, Sep. 2010, Germany. |
| Examination Report dated Apr. 28, 2014 in Malaysian Application No. PI 2013000936. |
| International Search Report and the Written Opinion mailed in International Application No. PCT/EP2013/052590 filed Aug. 2, 2013. |
| International Search Report and Written Opinion mailed in International Application No. PCT/EP2011/070551 filed Nov. 21, 2011. |
| International Search Report and Written Opinion mailed in International Application No. PCT/EP2014/055037 filed Mar. 13, 2014. |
| International Search Report and Written Opinion mailed in International Application No. PCT/EP2014/062464 filed Jun. 13, 2014. |
| International Search Report and Written Opinion mailed in International Application No. PCT/EP2015/053319 filed Feb. 17, 2015. |
| International Search Report and Written Opinion mailed in Singapore Application No. 11201404575U dated Jun. 16, 2015. |
| International Search Report mailed in International Application No. PCT/EP2011/072286 filed on Sep. 12, 2011. |
| Russian Search Report for 2013133853/08(050668) dated Feb. 20, 2015. |
| Search Report and Examination Opinion dated May 19, 2015 in International Application No. GB1421313.6. |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20140289306 A1 | Sep 2014 | US |
