Freedom Air looks to mobile devices at airports

By RICHARD WOOD

Air New Zealand subsidiary Freedom Air is investigating the use of mobile devices using wireless ethernet 802.11b technology.

IT manager Laurie Diffey said wireless would be used at airports for a variety of jobs including downloading passenger manifests, in-flight surveys, stock control for drinks and snacks and load sheets - now done manually and then entered into computers.

Freedom has tested a number of handheld devices using wireless ethernet at Auckland airport.

The company wants a device that can be used on the plane and at the boarding gate.

The decision to use wireless is awaiting the completion of Freedom's move to a Citrix Metaframe system which allows wireless mobile devices to operate like any modern terminal.

The application runs on the Citrix and Windows NT server at the office, but the graphics and input are done on the remote device - meaning the lack of computing power on a smaller device does not matter.

Using a handheld computer such as a Palm or Compaq Ipaq, applications can be designed to fit the smaller screens, or the device can be configured to squeeze in, or pan across, a full screen of information.

Diffey said taking the full screen approach meant applications did not need to be rewritten and new applications could run easily on any device.

Freedom's preferred hardware options is are a "tablet" style device with a higher resolution screen or an over-sized handheld computer with a lower resolution screen.