Apple, IBM, United Airlines banding together for better staff iPhone, Apple Watch integrat...

Posted:
in iPhone edited February 2017
The initiative between the three companies will assist United Airlines to develop apps for better communication, regulate peak customer demands better, and assist in more effective maintenance for over 50,000 devices already deployed, and more to come.




Examples given by United Airlines include immediate, trackable communication between maintenance staff and airplane crew, deal with emergent conditions better, as well as aid in vectoring employees to minimize passenger congestion.

"A partnership with Apple and IBM gives our app development enterprise scale, reusability, and -- most importantly -- speed," United Airlines Chief Information Officer Linda Jojo told Business Insider in an interview about the deal. "We're going to be able to deliver more tools and technologies faster to our frontline than we could if we were building it all ourselves."

"Our employees are now mobile, they're not stuck behind a desk anymore," Jojo said. "At the gate, we now have an agent that can close out a flight or if there's some kind of problem they can actually issue boarding passes and bag tags right from a printer that's on their hip, and it's all done from a mobile device."

United Airlines is leveraging Mobile at Scale for iOS, a new IBM app design and development model designed for the development and deployment of multiple iOS apps. United will also have access to IBM Studios in multiple cities, as well as a dedicated IBM iX team specializing in design, development, and integration with existing enterprise processes.

Terms of the deal are not yet known at this time. AppleInsider has reached out to Apple and United Airlines for more details.

United Airlines was at the forefront of iOS integration with flight crews. The airline was one of the first to replace pilot flight bags with iPads, and was the first to issue iPhones to other air and ground staff.

Apple's collaboration with IBM began in 2014, when the pair launched "IBM MobileFirst for iOS." IBM's MobileFirst Supply and Management program, which supplies enterprise customers with device packages, activation and management services all built around Apple's iPhone and iPad.

IBM also offers services like mass device management, security, analytics and mobile integration.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 8
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,919member
    Ugh...why United! They've got to be the worst airline ever. I absolutely refuse to fly United and will spend extra money to fly on another airline when necessary. 
  • Reply 2 of 8
    macxpress said:
    Ugh...why United! They've got to be the worst airline ever. I absolutely refuse to fly United and will spend extra money to fly on another airline when necessary. 
    Maybe UA is seeking to improve their service, eh?
    awilliams87caliSpamSandwichwatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 8
    mjtomlinmjtomlin Posts: 2,687member
    These two companies compliment each other so well, Apple should just buy IBM. Apple on the front end with users, IBM on the back end with administrators and servers.
    SpamSandwich
  • Reply 4 of 8
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    mjtomlin said:
    These two companies compliment each other so well, Apple should just buy IBM. Apple on the front end with users, IBM on the back end with administrators and servers.
    Would be a good buy but expensive. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 8
    cali said:
    mjtomlin said:
    These two companies compliment each other so well, Apple should just buy IBM. Apple on the front end with users, IBM on the back end with administrators and servers.
    Would be a good buy but expensive. 

    At this point in time it would be a cultural shock for both companies and their customers, IMO.

    It may be better to expand the partnership to additional areas -- chip design, back end database and services immediately come to mind.  This could include joint investment to create separate companies to deliver the above, e.g. timely, onsite AppleCare/repair services for individuals and SMBs -- or a reliable, high-performance transaction processing service/database.


  • Reply 6 of 8
    am8449am8449 Posts: 392member
    Good to see Apple's partnership with IBM bearing more fruit. Enterprise is a large market that Apple has not done well in historically, and IBM appears to have been a great choice to help bridge that gap.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 8
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,919member
    macxpress said:
    Ugh...why United! They've got to be the worst airline ever. I absolutely refuse to fly United and will spend extra money to fly on another airline when necessary. 
    Maybe UA is seeking to improve their service, eh?
    I think their service is beyond repair. They've totally ruined their reputation for me and Apple Watch support isn't going to bring me back to them. Others will follow suit anyways eventually. 
  • Reply 8 of 8
    technotechno Posts: 737member
    I wish more companies would seek help from Apple. I wish every single car manufacturer would just make CarPlay the default system in all of their models. 
    watto_cobra
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