Amadeus Consulting, a leading custom software development company, today announced its participation in a year-long research program to study the challenges faced by the aviation industry as it adopts new information technology for airport business operations. Aviation consulting firm, Aero Tech Consulting (ATCI), was selected to lead the study by the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP).

The project team represents a cross section of airline, airport management, information design, software, and technology implementation expertise. The study’s principal investigator is Christine Stocking, president of ATCI , a veteran of the aviation industry. Co-Investigators are Steve Loper, chief technology officer of Amadeus Consulting, and James DeLong, past chairman of the Airports Council International and a former manager of Denver International Airport. The panel also includes Vicki Braunagel, a former director of aviation at Denver International Airport; Deena Larsen, a new media writer and training expert; and Tom Healy, a partner at Third Party Insight and former managing director of sales for United Airlines.

“It’s an honor to be selected for this important aviation industry research project” said Christine Stocking, ATCI president. “We assembled an outstanding team of experienced airport, airline and technology professionals because we each know that our industry needs to integrate information more efficiently and that technology can do that.”

The project team is examining current systems and evaluating best practices for implementing new technologies. The study’s findings will be published in a handbook of recommendations for airport managers as they select and implement new information systems. The research methodology includes surveys, interviews and focus groups of key aviation personnel on the quality and usefulness of the data used to forecast business trends and to make well-informed decisions.

Steve Loper of Amadeus is defining technical specifications for airports to procure integrated, interoperable systems that support automated data processing and reporting of airport financial and operational data.

The ACRP is managed by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) and is funded through the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The TRB, a division of the National Research Council, operates Cooperative Research Programs, including the ACRP, and authorizes research programs to develop practical solutions to current problems facing transportation agencies.

The goal of the study is to create a detailed vision of a fully-integrated airport information system for business operations and to propose industry initiatives for achieving this vision. The study is formally titled, Analysis and Recommendations for Developing Integrated Airport Information Systems.