As an industry connector, ARC continuously examines new technologies that can generate efficiency and value for the global air travel community. ARC is pleased to announce the successful completion of a joint proof of concept (PoC) to determine the viability of using blockchain technology, with the ARC settlement system, to facilitate the reporting and settlement of United Airlines tickets. To enable the proof of concept, ARC partnered with Blockskye, a leader in providing blockchain solutions to the travel and entertainment industries.

“We are actively working to explore blockchain’s potential across all of ARC’s product offerings, especially our world-class settlement system” – Dickie Oliver, ARC

“ARC is committed to leading the air travel industry in the exploration of new technologies that have the potential to deliver options and business value to the global air travel community. We are actively working to explore blockchain’s potential across all of ARC’s product offerings, especially our world-class settlement system,” said ARC’s Vice President and Chief Information Officer Dickie Oliver. “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.”

The proof of concept consisted of an end-to-end test that utilized the ARC private blockchain to report and settle United tickets. ARC’s secure system tracked 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.

“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.” – Jeff Christensen, United Airlines

ARC is working with United Airlines and Blockskye to test this technology with one of the airline’s corporate customers. As this pilot proves to be successful, ARC will offer this capability to other airlines.

“Because ARC leads the way at the epicenter of the U.S. settlement system, any transformative, industry-wide technology will need to engage their proven leadership. We are excited to bring our industry knowledge and our team’s development skills to this transformative project, focusing initially on corporate solutions,” said Brook Armstrong, CEO and co-founder of Blockskye.