Airlines Reporting Corp. successfully completes blockchain trial for settlement of tickets

Airlines Reporting Corp. (ARC), a provider of ticket transaction settlement services, in collaboration with United Airlines and blockchain startup Blockskye, has successfully tested blockchain potential in facilitating reporting and settlement of tickets.

The joint proof of concept (PoC) involved determining the viability of using blockchain technology, with the ARC settlement system, to facilitate the reporting and settlement of United Airlines tickets. To enable the PoC, ARC partnered with Blockskye, a provider of blockchain solutions to the travel and entertainment industries.

ARC’s Vice President and Chief Information Officer Dickie Oliver, said that company is actively exploring blockchain’s potential across all of its product offerings.

“In the case of direct or indirect ticket sales, we believe blockchain has the potential to provide a secure, distributed and immutable transaction record that will improve upon business processes that exist today,” he added.

The companies created a private blockchain for the settlement of direct ticket sales. The PoC consisted of an end-to-end test that utilized the ARC private blockchain to report and settle United tickets. ARC said that its system allowed tracking ticket lifecycles from issuance through settlement and identified all transaction modifications through smart contracts.

“This PoC has allowed us to demonstrate the innovative capabilities that this technology enables, but more importantly, to simplify the payment and booking process for the corporate travelers and their employers. Time-consuming processes such as receipt collection for expense reports can be greatly improved, which will give travelers more time to be productive,” said Jeff Christensen, managing director of distribution and ancillary pricing at United Airlines.

The partnering companies are currently working together to test this technology with one of the airline’s corporate customers. Following the successful pilot, ARC said it will offer this capability to other airlines.