Phase 3
Phase 3 consists of project planning, further requirements definition, and implementation.
- November – December 2008 – Phase 3 initialisation. A Request For Proposal (RFP) was distributed to previously short-listed vendors. Shortly thereafter, the vendor responses were received and evaluated by an expanded project team which included external experts and the IATA ITS and Procurement departments plus external experts. After IATA executives and the SIS Steering Group endorsed the choice, high-level negotiations began.
- March – The SIS team will distribute more detailed information about the SIS solution and a business case template so that carriers can individually evaluate the costs and benefits of SIS.
- April & May – Some of the SIS Working Groups will be brought together along with the chosen vendor to in order to finalize the requirements.
- Q3 2010 – It is expected that the initial SIS carriers will begin pilot testing the system.
- Q4 2010 – After successful pilot tests, the system will be available for general migration.
Phase 2
Phase 2 consisted of a more detailed study and documentation of the requirements, costs, priorities, and timeframes of SIS. Unlike Phase 1, this phase relied on input from a number of airline experts.
- January 2008 - Phase 2 kicked off with a meeting of the SIS Steering Group in which the scope and deliverables of the project were agreed on and working groups were formed.
- February - May - Working groups (WGs) and sub-groups met to create the functional requirements. Meetings for most groups were held monthly; between the meetings members went back to their airlines to research additional information or investigate potential options.
- June - The requirements from all working groups were combined. The WGs and SG ensured that the overall requirements were consistent with their vision. Only the E-Invoicing WG continued to meet and define e-invoicing codes and standards.
- July - Potential vendors received the WGs' requirements in a Request For Information (RFI) and provided an estimate of feasibility, development cost, and time.
- August - The vendors’ responses were combined with the requirements in order to create an IATA business case in order to move the project forward.
- September - The SIS roll-out plan was presented to the Revenue Accounting community at its annual meeting. Break-out sessions were held for carriers to provide more detailed information and an opportunity to ask questions. Later in September, the plan was presented to the IATA Financial Committee (FinCom) for endorsement. The Committee enthusiastically supported the plan.
Phase 1
Phase 1 was a feasibility study following proposals from FIRST & FINAL™ airlines. It was conducted in 2007 with input from IATA, AIA, and key airlines. The study determined that while Simplified Interline Settlement (SIS) is feasible, more evaluation would be required for modifications to the ICH and AIA processes. Additionally, a timeline for implementation would need to be defined.