August 2007

Cara Airlines Solutions Streamlines Operations

By Kianoosh Hashemzadeh

Cara Airline Solutions (CAS), the largest travel caterer in Canada, recently announced that it will select EatecNetX as a “back-office solution” to help manage its 10 catering centers across Canada. The software, which is currently used by Qantas and Martinair, will streamline all of CAS’s operations by providing up-to-date passenger and flight departure information, flight management operations and the ability to forecast production demands, including the need for special meals. The software will also provide financial reports and invoices at the touch of a button.

The purchase of EatecNetX, according to Eatec Corporation’s Director of Sales, Karyl Toms and Tracy Deally, Implementation Services Manager, was made in large part for CAS’s desire to strengthen their existing relationship with Air Canada. EatecNetX will help the companies synch up their digital programs, resulting in an ease of communications between the two.

Toms predicts that EatecNetX has the ability to lower CAS’s costs by about 2 percent. An essential key to this reduction in cost is the forecasting information that EatecNetX will provide. Toms explained that if CAS begins counting and tracking passengers throughout the year, the company will soon be able to predict passenger flight patterns; this will help cut down over production, such as that of in-flight meals. This information will also help CAS schedule labor better because the company will know how many assembly lines are needed for a given time of the year, ensuring that CAS is prepared, but not over-prepared.

Forecasting will also help CAS order products. For example, if CAS knows historically that a certain flight, at a particular time of year, will be 80 percent full, CAS can effectively order the various products needed at the optimal time according to suppliers’ differing delivery times. In addition, CAS will also be able to serve passengers better by using collected market research to effectively predict which products are most popular with passengers on certain flights. This information will guarantee that CAS will be fully stocked in these products.

The instant invoicing that EatecNetX provides is also an important, time-saving function of the software. After CAS has successfully catered a flight, the company can utilize the same data that was used to fill and execute the order to create an invoice – according to an airline’s specific criteria. This eliminates the tedious task of reentering the data to create an invoice.

EatecNetX will also provide the management of trolleys used on board. The trolleys will be tracked at all times; CAS will know the physical location of the carts, as well as what is on each one of them.

Future enhancements for EatecNetX include the option for airline passengers to order gourmet meals online. Bringing this information in electronically will ensure that CAS only brings on a plane what is needed, thus reducing costs. CAS also hopes to have the ability to place orders with suppliers for onboard product electronically.

For CAS, a growing company that claims every minute a CAS-serviced flight takes off from Canada, EatecNetX will help the company streamline all operations. As Toms put it, “anything that Cara wants to put on a plane, they can manage.”

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