ARINC News - August 10, 2009

Company ARINC
Date 10.08.2009

ARINC's CUPPS System Now Being Used by Continental Airlines for Check-in Process at Las Vegas

August 10, 2009

Annapolis, Maryland—In a major step for the aviation industry, the Common Use Passenger Processing Systems (CUPPS) passenger platform, provided by ARINC Incorporated, has successfully been implemented by Continental Airlines for its check-in process at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport.

The deployment on August 4 was trouble-free, using the Attachmate InfoConnect application. Continental becomes the first U.S. carrier to use ARINC’s CUPPS technology at Las Vegas McCarran. The ARINC CUPPS platform includes full support for McCarran’s very successful RFID baggage tag program.

CUPPS technology will save airlines and airports millions of dollars by introducing a uniform electronic interface for passenger applications. Developed by the aviation industry, in coordination with International Air Transport Association, Air Transport Association, and Airports Council International, the final CUPPS standard is expected to be published later this year. CUPPS will give software developers at all airlines a common set of specifications, eliminating costly custom engineering and making passenger applications fully portable between airports.

“This successful launch by Continental underscores the huge potential of CUPPS to benefit the industry at large,” states Mike Picco, ARINC Vice President, Airport Systems. “CUPPS will greatly reduce the costs and lead times involved in migrating to efficient common-use operation. This changes everything.”

Amy Foltz, Manager of Technology at Continental Airlines, said, "Introduction of new technology that reduces costs and enhances the services is important to Continental.  We are pleased to see the successful deployment of CUPPS check-in services at Las Vegas McCarran.  ARINC’s vMUSETM CUPPS platform at McCarran is proving the benefit of using common standards to achieve long-term cost savings, and we are very happy with both the implementation and the results.”

ARINC has been instrumental in the leadership and technical development of CUPPS, working with the international CUPPS team to develop the first CUPPS Technical Specification. The CUPPS development team is led by Samuel Ingalls, Assistant Director of Aviation, Information Systems, Las Vegas McCarran International Airport.

“CUPPS is a much-needed worldwide effort to replace the older CUTE technology that has served airlines and airports well for over 30 years,” states Ingalls. “This smooth deployment by Continental should spur the industry toward accelerated adoption of CUPPS. This will bring significant improvements in functionality and reduced costs for all stakeholders.”

ARINC fast-tracked the deployment of its CUPPS platform at Las Vegas to support the world’s first live test of CUPPS by an airline on January 15, 2009. The application has been running error-free since then, and has been expanded to include gate operations for passenger boarding.

Las Vegas McCarran is the first of several major airports scheduled to prove out the interoperability of CUPPS-compliant systems, in cooperation with major international airlines and platform suppliers. ARINC’s CUPPS solution at Las Vegas is an extension of its industry-leading vMUSE passenger platform, which also supports older CUTE software and airline proprietary applications.

ARINC Airport Systems is recognized as a leading innovator in air travel passenger technologies. Its MUSE® family of passenger systems is found at more than 75 airports worldwide, and used by 260 airlines carrying more than 300 million passengers a year.

ARINC Incorporated, a portfolio company of The Carlyle Group, provides communications, engineering and integration solutions for commercial, defense and government customers worldwide. Headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland with regional headquarters in London and Singapore, ARINC is ISO 9001:2008 certified.

Release: 09-077

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