Tech firm answers call for billing solution: airport billing software revolutionalizes the way accounting systems track leases, apply rates. (Thunder Bay).A Thunder Bay Thunder Bay, city (1991 pop. 113,946), SW Ont., Canada, on Thunder Bay inlet of Lake Superior. The city was created in 1970 by the amalgamation of the twin cities of Fort William and Port Arthur and two adjoining townships. aviation technology company is taking off with a new airport billing software product. iFIDs.com is a joint-venture partnership between Thunder Bay International Airport Thunder Bay Airport or Thunder Bay International Airport, (IATA: YQT, ICAO: CYQT), is an airport in the Canadian city of Thunder Bay, Ontario. With 100,154 aircraft movements in 2006 it is the fourth busiest airport in Ontario. Inc. and Aviation InterTech, a Thunder Bay software development company specializing in aviation maintenance systems for air carriers. Aileron aileron: see airfoil; airplane. , which was launched into the marketplace in January2002, is one of a suite of their Internet software-specific products. "The Aileron product was developed. because there was no other offering on the market in Canada," says Eric Hansen Eric Hansen can refer to the following people: Writers
When most Canadian airports changed ownership from Transport Canada Transport Canada is the department within the government of Canada which is responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of transportation in Canada. History to private authorities in the late 1990s, the new operators had to migrate away from NavCanada software to calculate their aeronautical aer·o·nau·tic also aer·o·nau·ti·cal adj. Of or relating to aeronautics. aer  o·nau fees. NavCanada, the tower at most airports, collects data of aircraft landings and sends that data to iFIDS electronically who apply the rates and fees according to the aircraft size, weight and passenger capacity. "We correlate it to a fee structure and produce the analysis on the data and shoot it back to accounting," says Hansen. The system also functions to track leases and ongoing billing information. "It's basically a management tool that talks to the accounting system," says Hansen. The system is in. use at the Thunder Bay airport and the company recently installed another system at the Prince George, B.C. airport. "We think it's a very sophisticated solution for a price that is substantially, less than an airport operator would pay for custom. development work or even buy an off-the-shelf product," says Scott McFadden, president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of the Thunder Bay International Airport. Depending on the size of an airport and the scope of the application, a system installation runs roughly around $40,000, including customization and a monthly subscription fee. iFIDs.com came about when the airport went looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. a flight information display system for the terminal to fit their budget and Aviation InterTech came up with a low-cost Internet-based solution; "We later identified at the airport a need for an aeronautical billing solution that would integrate with our financial accounting system," says. McFadden. "We started looking for solutions in 1999 in preparation for the Y2K See Y2K problem and Y2K compliant. Y2K - Year 2000 (scare), but were not able to come up with a solution. There were lots of people willing to custom develop, but it would have been obsolete quickly. Failing to find anything suitable on the market, iFIDS.com developed a new system. With this venture, McFadden says the airport authority brings their expertise in business management and marketing to the partnership while Aviation InterTech, a firm of six, employees, brings their proprietary Internet technologies. "Aileron is relatively new and we've really just started to make the system known and available," says McFadden, who adds they were recently short-listed to install the .product at the two main Montreal-area airports. Though they did not win the job, McFadden says the experience was invaluable "For a small Thunder Bay firm to be in the running for a huge project was an achievement in itself. www.thunderbayairport.com www.ifids.com |
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