System and method for advertising and negotiating services for commercial and general aviation

• US 20040148179A1
• Filed: 01/23/2003
• Published: 07/29/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kumhyr, David Bruce, Andrews, James Neal
• Granted Patent: US 8,554,624 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/188 Electronic negotiation

Abstract

A system and method for advertising and negotiating services for commercial and general aviation are provided. With the present invention, a pilot of an aircraft may enter into a computing device specific information about a desired service that the pilot wishes to have available upon arrival at a destination airport. This information is then transmitted to an airport bartering system that barters with fixed based operator (FBO) computing systems at the airport for the desired services. The airport bartering system ranks the latest quotes from the FBOs based on criteria identified by the pilot in the original request for the desired service. Advertisements for the top ranked FBOs are then generated and transmitted to the aircraft computer system from which the request for services was sent. The advertisements received at the aircraft computer system are displayed on an associated display for viewing by the pilot. The pilot may then select an advertisement in order to generate an order for the desired service. The order for the desired service is then transmitted to the airport bartering system which then forwards the order to the FBO computer system associated with the FBO of the selected advertisement.

Claims

1. A method, in a data processing system associated with an aircraft, for obtaining a service from a service provider associated with an airport, comprising:

receiving input from a user designating a type of a requested service and one or more criteria of the requested service;

generating a request for service based on the received input;

transmitting the request for service to an airport computing system associated with the airport;

receiving one or more advertisements for one or more service providers associated with the airport; and

selecting an advertisement from the one or more advertisements to thereby order the service from a service provider associated with the selected advertisement.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving input from a user includes receiving user selections via one or more graphical user interfaces generated by the data processing system associated with the aircraft.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more advertisements include information obtained from the one or more service providers identifying terms of sale of the requested service.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating an order for the requested service from the service provider associated with the selected advertisement; and

transmitting the order to the airport computing system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is implemented by the data processing system while the aircraft is enroute to the airport.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the data processing system is one of a portable computer, a personal digital assistant, an onboard computer of an aircraft, and a laptop computer.

7. A method, in a data processing system, for bartering for a service from a service provider associated with an airport, comprising:

receiving a request for service from a computer system associated with an aircraft, the request for service identifying a requested service;

identifying one or more service providers associated with the airport that provide the requested service; and

transmitting a request for a quote on providing the requested service to the one or more service providers.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

negotiating with the one or more service providers based on one or more negotiation criteria.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the negotiation criteria are identified in the received request for service.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

ranking quotes from the one or more service providers based on one or more criteria; and

transmitting one or more advertisements for a subset of the one or more based on the ranking of quotes from the one or more service providers.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more advertisements include information obtained from the quotes from the one or more service providers.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving an order for service from the computer associated with the aircraft based on a selection of an advertisement from the one or more advertisements; and

transmitting the order a service provider identified in the order.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein identifying the one or more service providers includes performing a lookup of service providers in a service provider directory based on a type of the requested service.

14. The method of claim 7, wherein the request for service is received from an aircraft that is enroute to the airport.

15. A computer program product in a computer readable medium for obtaining a service from a service provider associated with an airport, comprising:

first instructions for receiving input from a user designating a type of a requested service and one or more criteria of the requested service;

second instructions for generating a request for service based on the received input;

third instructions for transmitting the request for service to an airport computing system associated with the airport;

fourth instructions for receiving one or more advertisements for one or more service providers associated with the airport; and

fifth instructions for selecting an advertisement from the one or more advertisements to thereby order the service from a service provider associated with the selected advertisement.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the first instructions for receiving input from a user includes instructions for receiving user selections via one or more graphical user interfaces.

17. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the one or more advertisements include information obtained from the one or more service providers identifying terms of sale of the requested service.

18. The computer program product of claim 15, further comprising:

sixth instructions for generating an order for the requested service from the service provider associated with the selected advertisement; and

seventh instructions for transmitting the order to the airport computing system.

19. A computer program product in a computer readable medium for bartering for a service from a service provider associated with an airport, comprising:

first instructions for receiving a request for service from a computer system associated with an aircraft, the request for service identifying a requested service;

second instructions for identifying one or more service providers associated with the airport that provide the requested service; and

third instructions for transmitting a request for a quote on providing the requested service to the one or more service providers.

20. The computer program product of claim 19, further comprising:

fourth instructions for negotiating with the one or more service providers based on one or more negotiation criteria.

21. The computer program product of claim 20, wherein the negotiation criteria are identified in the received request for service.

22. The computer program product of claim 19, further comprising:

fourth instructions for ranking quotes from the one or more service providers based on one or more criteria; and

fifth instructions for transmitting one or more advertisements for a subset of the one or more based on the ranking of quotes from the one or more service providers.

23. The computer program product of claim 22, wherein the one or more advertisements include information obtained from the quotes from the one or more service providers.

24. The computer program product of claim 22, further comprising:

sixth instructions for receiving an order for service from the computer associated with the aircraft based on a selection of an advertisement from the one or more advertisements; and

seventh instructions for transmitting the order a service provider identified in the order.

25. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the second instructions for identifying the one or more service providers include instructions for performing a lookup of service providers in a service provider directory based on a type of the requested service.

26. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the request for service is received from an aircraft that is enroute to the airport.

27. An apparatus for obtaining a service from a service provider associated with an airport, comprising:

means for receiving input from a user designating a type of a requested service and one or more criteria of the requested service;

means for generating a request for service based on the received input;

means for transmitting the request for service to an airport computing system associated with the airport;

means for receiving one or more advertisements for one or more service providers associated with the airport; and

means for selecting an advertisement from the one or more advertisements to thereby order the service from a service provider associated with the selected advertisement.

28. An apparatus for bartering for a service from a service provider associated with an airport, comprising:

means for receiving a request for service from a computer system associated with an aircraft, the request for service identifying a requested service;

means for identifying one or more service providers associated with the airport that provide the requested service; and

means for transmitting a request for a quote on providing the requested service to the one or more service providers.

29. A system for ordering a service from a service provider associated with an airport, comprising:

a first computing device associated with an aircraft;

a second computing device associated with the airport, wherein the first computing device communicates with the second computing device by way of a wireless communication connection; and

one or more service provider computing devices coupled to the second computing device by a network, wherein;

the first computing device receives input from a user designating a type of a requested service and one or more criteria of the requested service, generates a request for service based on the received input, and transmits the request for service to the second computing device;

the second computing device receives the request for service from the first computing device, the request for service identifying a requested service, identifies one or more service provider computing devices of one or more service providers associated with the airport that provide the requested service, and transmits a request for a quote on providing the requested service to the one or more service provider computing devices;

the one or more service provider computing devices provide quotes on providing the requested service to the second computing device;

the second computing device generates one or more advertisements for the one or more service providers and transmits the one or more advertisements to the first computing device; and

the first computing device receives the one or more advertisements and selects an advertisement from the one or more advertisements to thereby order the service from a service provider associated with the selected advertisement.