Go Live: Thai Airways and Amadeus’ journey to a successful migration

Tonight, 22 September 2014, Amadeus and THAI have come together after a lot of hard work to celebrate this tremendous achievement in style. The ‘National dress of the world’ theme has everyone in great spirits in Bangkok!

Looking back on the events that led to this evening’s celebration, the Amadeus APAC Airline IT Marketing team takes us through the intense 24 hour migration.

Maria Benz, Head of Airline IT Marketing (centre) and Emma Gray, Marketing Specialist (fourth from left), feeling confident with the THAI team.

The teams arrive

Amadeus teams from Bangkok, Nice, London, Istanbul, Sydney, Singapore and Miami arrive at the Thai Airways offices to prepare for the RIT cutover. There is an underlying feeling of excitement and anticipation around the room as the migration teams get ready. Amadeus is feeling confident. In fact, Arnaud de Chelle, Director Airline Implementation - Amadeus, hands over his passport to Khun Chutintorn Srisittikum, VP Digital Sales – Thai Airways. He’s not going anywhere until the job is done!
 

The THAI team with Shell Lim, Amadeus Programme Director (left) and Arnaud de Chelle, Amadeus Director Implementation (centre back row).

The BIG day

The THAI offices are a hive of activity with everyone dressed in Amadeus t-shirts – green is the colour of choice signifying that the team is ready to GO! Energised by ‘gluai’, which in Thai means both ‘bananas’ and ‘easy’, eating bananas seems like a good omen as the plan is for an ‘easy’, straight-forward migration.

The clock starts ticking at 4:45pm, as the start of cutover is successful. From Bangkok, to London and Nice, the migration teams listen in by conference call as the first GO! announcement is heard over the loud speaker. As the next milestone is reached at 6:00pm, the THAI and Amadeus teams take a well-earned break for dinner. GO! announcements are then made throughout the evening, signifying that another cutover activity has taken place. The migration is going well, or as THAI would say, ‘smooth as silk’ – it is even running ahead of schedule.

Before dawn breaks, the Bangkok migration team gather in the Central Command Centre. Those on conference calls wait for the final, definitive GO! announcement. At 3.50am, the news is broadcast: “GO LIVE: OPEN THAI AIRWAYS TO THE WORLD!”

Tired, but elated, Thai Airways and Amadeus celebrate a ‘gluai’ and successful migration. There is still a lot of work to do, but that is it for the Marketing team – it is well and truly past our bedtime!