ZeroJet, a new low cost airline, wants a brand new web-based system to allow people to book seats for flights on-line. They want an automated check in system which has no staff.
ZeroJet wants a passenger to be able to view the Homepage and then search for available flights by entering the starting airport and the destination airport for a specific date. ZeroJet will organise regular flights which occur every week at the same time using the same type of plane. These regular flights will be given an identifier called a 'Flight Code' e.g. ZJ173 for Monday flights from London Gatwick to Belfast at 9:05am
ZeroJet will also occasionally have special one-off flights with Flight numbers ending '*' e.g. ZJ123* When a passenger arrives at the airport, they will enter their credit card into a machine which will then allocate them a seat on the plane and print a ticket for them and a ticket for each of their bags. Each bag is then placed on the scales weighed and scanned using a barcode scanner. Bags without barcodes will be rejected and returned to the customer.
NB The ticket machine will not print tickets during the period 20 minutes before boarding.
Passengers with a valid ticket will then pass through security and wait for the plane to arrive.
When the plane arrives an operator will access a computer console and press a button to start the boarding procedure (pressing the button will also change the flight status to indicate that the plane has landed). As each passenger leaves the boarding area, they will pass their ticket through a scanner which then registers them as being on the plane.
Friends and family and even passengers can access the ZeroJet website to find out the status of each flight e.g. boarding, full, in flight, landed etc.
ZeroJet currently has 10 planes of different makes and size. Each make of plane has a different requirement for the number of pilots and stewards needed for a flight. Planes can only take off if they have the correct number of pilots and stewards on board. ZeroJet employees must obtain a special employee ticket which they must pass through a machine when boarding a plane. In times of shortage a pilot may act as a steward, although they can not act as a steward and a pilot at the same time!