Air Transport Association Partners to Redevelop the ‘ATA Aviation Marketplace’

The Air Transport Association of America (ATA), the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, today announced that it is partnering with Patni Computer Systems (BSE: PATNI COMPUT, NSE: PATNI, NYSE: PTI), a leading global information technology (IT) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services provider, to develop, implement and maintain the next-generation ATA Aviation Marketplace.

For more than 25 years, the ATA Aviation Marketplace has provided services for parts pricing information and surplus availability to the airline industry. With more than six million records, the Marketplace provides a centralized solution for validating and aggregating data from 145 suppliers and distributing cleansed and customized data to 69 airlines and 55 non-airline customers worldwide. The value to airlines is primarily derived from having a single, ready, reliable and consistent data feed into their back-office procurement systems, enabling automated and error-free order administration. In addition to a completely redesigned user interface and improved data translation capabilities, the new Marketplace will leverage Web services and XML for more real-time information exchange.

Working together, Patni and ATA have completed the business requirements for the upgrade. Over the next year, Patni will produce specifications for the system and conduct all coding and development in preparation for hosting by early 2011.

“Airlines and suppliers look to ATA for the unbiased information, data and support they need to keep the transportation system operating optimally,” said ATA President and CEO James C. May. “Patni has the skill, knowledge and experience that we are looking for to deliver a world-class system.”

“We are thrilled to be chosen to provide this critical, strategic service for the organization representing the leading U.S. airlines,” said Naresh Lakhanpal, president of Patni Americas.

Patni brings four decades of global IT experience to the ATA project, providing custom, cost-effective deployments for major customers in a wide range of vertical sectors, including transportation and logistics. The company will utilize its expertise to implement state-of-the-art technologies to streamline the Marketplace’s operations and facilitate real-time updates to support ad-hoc ordering by airlines. The use of Web services technology will give participating suppliers the ability to provide current information on key business drivers such as on-hand inventory quantities, while Patni’s Marketplace development approach will make the implementation “cloud-ready” for production hosting. The project will also include a new, more streamlined graphical user interface, enhanced data delivery capabilities and improved security features.