The trend toward online booking of flight reservations has expanded services for airline customers while reducing costs for the carriers. These opportunities have not escaped notice at Frontier Airlines, an affordable-fare leader that continues to expand its destinations and customer base. Working together with Sun Microsystems, the airline has placed special focus on keeping its Frontierairlines.com Web site in step with its business objectives and customer needs.
In 2004 and early 2005, the airline chose to upgrade every aspect of its Web presence—from the underlying technology architecture to the content, look and feel. The existing Frontier Web site, which was based on Dell servers and Microsoft .NET software, was fast approaching its capacity limits. In addition, the site did not reflect Frontier's new image, including the popular "spokesanimals" who adorn the tails of Frontier’s Airbus fleet.
“
Sun is more than just a proven player in high-volume Web sites. Sun is also a committed partner that has stayed available to us as we continue to grow and expand the capabilities of our Web environment.
”
— Bob Rapp, Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Frontier Airlines
Frontier also recognized the Web site redesign as a significant business opportunity. The company's primary objective is to drive an increased percentage of bookings from the Web, which in turn will help it improve customer service and reduce distribution costs. Frontier fixed its goals on increasing its percentage of bookings on the Web from 35 to 50 percent in the first year, and then up to 80 percent or more within three years.
To start the upgrade, Frontier sent out RFPs and evaluated dozens of vendors for a planned Web site redesign. The airline narrowed its choice of primary technology vendor to a solution based on commodity Dell servers and .NET software and one from Sun Microsystems. Several factors contributed to Frontier's decision to go with Sun, including the greater scalability and high-performance of the Sun Fire X4100 servers, the Sun Java Application Platform Suite and the Solaris 10 Operating System. The competing solution could only meet Frontier's performance goals for the near term. Only Sun enabled Frontier to reach its long-range targets without purchasing additional server hardware. Frontier also viewed Solaris 10 as the best available operating system based on new features such as Solaris Containers, which help maximize server utilization, and Dynamic Tracing (Dtrace), which enables real-time application debugging and optimization.
Frontier was also impressed with Sun's commitment to the Web site redesign. Early in Frontier's RFP process, the Sun Client Solutions team established themselves as Frontier’s trusted partner and eventually took on the role of project manager for the entire effort. The team worked closely with Frontier and its other vendors to coordinate the technology architecture with the new content and Web design. They also used team members’ vertical industry expertise to help integrate the site with the third-party reservation engine from Sabre, and other back-end services. Finally, in order to further lower ongoing maintenance costs, Sun Educational Services trained Frontier personnel in the Java Application Platform Suite and other Sun technologies.
The revamped Web site went live in May 2006. The site gives customers a new look and feel and much more, including easier navigation, a new storefront filled with Frontier gear, up-to-the minute flight information, and the ability to book hotels and car rentals along with flights. Frontier has now integrated the site into its marketing and advertising campaigns, which offer customers special incentives to book on the Web. The new site is currently serving 20,000 unique visitors per hour, but bench tests show the Sun servers able to handle up to 80,000
By teaming with Sun on the new site, Frontier is reducing costs while providing its customers with a rich and satisfying Web experience that builds loyalty and increases repeat business. At the same time, Sun's scalable and flexible architecture allows Frontier to steadily and cost-efficiently add new services and value. For Frontier and its customers, the launch of the new site is just the beginning of an exciting journey.
