QIK
Encyclopedia
Qik - is an intelligent airline agent application first developed in the late 1980s as a front end to mainframe
computer reservations system
s.
Qik was designed & developed by Qantas Airways as a productivity tool for use in the airline's reservation call centres. The Q.I.K. acronym as derived from its use of a separate keypad attached to the keyboard. The keys on the keypad
acted as function keys. In later versions the physical keyboard was disposed of and replaced with a logical keypad represented as a quadrant on the user's screen mapped to standard QWERTY
keyboard (F1-F12) function keys.
Marketed under the brands Qik, Qik-RES & Qik-CHEK these applications encapsulate airline
business rules in a PC based smart application and send the required transactions to the airline mainframe or host for processing. In doing the training time for an airline agent could be reduced from 6 weeks down to 2 weeks. In addition the automation of host transactions eliminated format entry errors. This reduced the need to resend transactions and led to a reduction in mainframe usage costs for airlines.
In the early 1990s Qantas
formed a joint venture operation with DMR Consulting to market Qik and other transportation IT solutions under the name of Qadrant International. In 1997 DMR Consulting purchased the remaining 49% stock of Qadrant off Qantas Airlines to become the sole owner of the company. Qadrant went on to develop later versions of Qik in conjunction with Sabre Decision Technologies (SDT), an AMR/American Airlines
subsidiary. This joint development exercise expanded Qik from the DOS platform to the OS/2 & Windows platforms and was brought to market as Qik-II. This collaboration continued and Qik-II was migrated to the SITA's Common Use Airport platform CUTE/OS. Now the majority of QANTAS workstations use Novell's Application delivery system to deliver them an emulated version through infoconnect
Qik-CHEK & Qik-RES are also sold as part of the TurboSabre suite by Sabre Systems. Qik applications are used by more than 70 airlines worldwide.
Mainframe computer
Mainframes are powerful computers used primarily by corporate and governmental organizations for critical applications, bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing.The term originally referred to the...
computer reservations system
Computer reservations system
A computer reservations system is a computerized system used to store and retrieve information and conduct transactions related to air travel. Originally designed and operated by airlines, CRSes were later extended for the use of travel agencies...
s.
Qik was designed & developed by Qantas Airways as a productivity tool for use in the airline's reservation call centres. The Q.I.K. acronym as derived from its use of a separate keypad attached to the keyboard. The keys on the keypad
Keypad
A keypad is a set of buttons arranged in a block or "pad" which usually bear digits, symbols and usually a complete set of alphabetical letters. If it mostly contains numbers then it can also be called a numeric keypad...
acted as function keys. In later versions the physical keyboard was disposed of and replaced with a logical keypad represented as a quadrant on the user's screen mapped to standard QWERTY
QWERTY
QWERTY is the most common modern-day keyboard layout. The name comes from the first six letters appearing in the topleft letter row of the keyboard, read left to right: Q-W-E-R-T-Y. The QWERTY design is based on a layout created for the Sholes and Glidden typewriter and sold to Remington in the...
keyboard (F1-F12) function keys.
Marketed under the brands Qik, Qik-RES & Qik-CHEK these applications encapsulate airline
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
business rules in a PC based smart application and send the required transactions to the airline mainframe or host for processing. In doing the training time for an airline agent could be reduced from 6 weeks down to 2 weeks. In addition the automation of host transactions eliminated format entry errors. This reduced the need to resend transactions and led to a reduction in mainframe usage costs for airlines.
In the early 1990s Qantas
Qantas
Qantas Airways Limited is the flag carrier of Australia. The name was originally "QANTAS", an initialism for "Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services". Nicknamed "The Flying Kangaroo", the airline is based in Sydney, with its main hub at Sydney Airport...
formed a joint venture operation with DMR Consulting to market Qik and other transportation IT solutions under the name of Qadrant International. In 1997 DMR Consulting purchased the remaining 49% stock of Qadrant off Qantas Airlines to become the sole owner of the company. Qadrant went on to develop later versions of Qik in conjunction with Sabre Decision Technologies (SDT), an AMR/American Airlines
American Airlines
American Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...
subsidiary. This joint development exercise expanded Qik from the DOS platform to the OS/2 & Windows platforms and was brought to market as Qik-II. This collaboration continued and Qik-II was migrated to the SITA's Common Use Airport platform CUTE/OS. Now the majority of QANTAS workstations use Novell's Application delivery system to deliver them an emulated version through infoconnect
Qik-CHEK & Qik-RES are also sold as part of the TurboSabre suite by Sabre Systems. Qik applications are used by more than 70 airlines worldwide.
Airlines Known to use Qik
- EVA Airways
- Cathay Pacific Airways
- Bangkok AirwaysBangkok AirwaysBangkok Airways Co., Ltd. is a regional airline based in Chatuchak District, Bangkok, Thailand. It operates scheduled services to destinations in Thailand, Cambodia, China, Laos, Maldives, Burma, India and Singapore...
- Caribbean Star AirlinesCaribbean Star AirlinesCaribbean Star Airlines was an airline based in Antigua and Barbuda. It operated scheduled passenger services in conjunction with Leeward Islands Air Transport to destinations in the eastern Caribbean...
- Caribbean Sun Airlines
- DragonairDragonairHong Kong Dragon Airlines Limited , operating as Dragonair, is an international airline and flag carrier headquartered in Hong Kong; with its corporate headquarters, Dragonair House Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Limited (T: 港龍航空有限公司, S: 港龙航空有限公司, Cantonese: gong2 lung4 hong4 hung1 jau5 haan6 gung1 si1,...
- LufthansaLufthansaDeutsche Lufthansa AG is the flag carrier of Germany and the largest airline in Europe in terms of overall passengers carried. The name of the company is derived from Luft , and Hansa .The airline is the world's fourth-largest airline in terms of overall passengers carried, operating...
- South African AirwaysSouth African AirwaysSouth African Airways is the national flag carrier and largest airline of South Africa, with headquarters in Airways Park on the grounds of OR Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, Gauteng. The airline flies to 36 destinations worldwide from its hub at OR Tambo International...
- US AirwaysUS AirwaysUS Airways, Inc. is a major airline based in the U.S. city of Tempe, Arizona. The airline is an operating unit of US Airways Group and is the sixth largest airline by traffic and eighth largest by market value in the country....
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