Shepherd Systems, Inc., a subsidiary of Cendant Corp, and South African Airways (SAA) today announced a multiyear agreement that provides Africa’s leading airline with access to Shepherd’sÊ “Galaxy” brand Marketing Information Data Tape (MIDT) processing services - technology that will further strengthen the carrier’s ability to make strategic business and operational decisions that help drive profitability. MIDT data is a comprehensive source of market and competitive information pulled from global distribution services which, when integrated with other data sources, can enable airlines to make strategically sound, fact-based decisions about their operations and business.Ê The agreement marks a significant expansion of the existing relationship between SAA and Shepherd.Ê “This agreement will provide South African Airways with a real competitive advantage as it will enable them to obtain comprehensive market intelligence and make their strategic decisions more quickly and confidently in response to the evolving changes in the travel industry and world marketplace,” said Flo Lugli, senior vice president of Airline Solutions for Cendant’s Travel Distribution Services division and general manager of Shepherd Systems.Ê “Even during times when cost cutting remains an industry priority, airlines are finding that MIDT processing unearths a wealth of data that, properly analyzed, enables them to stay ahead of changing marketplace conditions and operate as profitably as possible.”Ê According to Lugli, more than 21 of the world’s leading airlines currently rely on Shepherd’s “Galaxy” technology for superior quality, state-of-the-art, MIDT processing services.Ê

Galaxy allows airlines to tailor its various MIDT-processing applications on a daily, weekly or monthly basis to meet their specific competitive needs.Ê Galaxy is just one component of a tightly integrated suite of online business-intelligence tools Shepherd has developed to enable airlines to maximize the value of their investment in MIDT and, according to Lugli, one of the reasons Shepherd is widely considered an industry leader in such intelligence software and services.

SAA has been a client of Shepherd’s “MarketMaster” technology - another of Shepherd’s industry-leading MIDT applications - sinceÊ April 2003.Ê MarketMaster is an Internet-based marketing-intelligence system that allows airlines to analyze their MIDT data to better understand market dynamics and make more informed network, revenue management and sales-planning decisions.Ê With MarketMaster airlines can immediately determine their market position and penetration, spot and seize upon future booking trends, identify markets with the greatest potential for incremental revenue, and evaluate their network, pricing, revenue management and distribution channels.

“Our relationship with Shepherd Systems over the past year has been a rewarding one for us in many ways,” said Mike Bond, executive manager of Strategy and Planning for SAA.Ê “Given our experience working directly with them using MarketMaster, as well as their reputation for providing superior MIDT processing, they proved to be the best choice for MIDT processing technology.”
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