Kale Consultants Ltd., a provider of solutions to the airline, logistics and travel industry, announced that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has chosen Kale as the prime technology supplier for the development of its industry-wide interline settlement platform Simplified Interline Settlement (SIS) initiative.
The Simplified Interline Settlement (SIS) project aims to standardize, facilitate and expedite interline billing and settlement in the airline industry. This initiative consolidates IATA's vision to streamline the interline settlement process and encapsulates other significant initiatives such as First & Final', Electronic Ticketing and Weekly Settlement.
Speaking on the occasion, Tom Murphy, IATA's Senior Vice President for Industry Distribution and Financial Services noted that 'Modernizing the interline settlement platform is an important step in our mission to simplify industry processes. The USD 500 million annual savings that SIS will generate is critical for the industry. As our technology partner and outsourced solution provider, we will be counting on Kale to deliver high quality solutions on time and on budget. At its steady state three years from today, SIS will handle over one million invoices per year, be used by over 300 airlines, support over 3,000 users around the globe and facilitate settlement of approximately USD 50 bln. per year for the industry.'
Vipul Jain, CEO & Managing Director, Kale Consultants, Ltd., said, 'Kale is delighted to be part of this major industry initiative driven by IATA. The SIS project adds to our existing partnership with IATA on the First & Final' billing initiative and reinforces Kale's position as a premier solutions provider to the airline industry. The initiative is also in line with our constant endeavour to provide the industry with innovative solutions, in face of the current economic conditions.'
IATA estimates that over 200 tons of invoices and supporting documents are being shipped between airlines around the world each year to support the airlines' interline billing and settlement process. Moving to 100% ET has not solved the problem as the Rejections process still requires paper-based supporting documents, and much that is not ticket-related is also processed, such as handling and catering. The spiraling costs, and therefore the potential for environmental and monetary savings and process improvements, are huge.
The SIS initiative envisages significant benefits/cost savings for airlines; from reduction in paper, postage, and courier fees to reduction in manpower cost associated with invoice registration, document preparation, document sorting and transaction level reconciliation. This initiative will also drive faster revenue recognition and better financial information for airlines. It is estimated that over 300 airlines will be using this system after it goes live in 2010.
