Sabre Corporation: A Technology Provider or A Global Surveillance Tool?
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has been under hot waters since the recent aircraft crash that took place in Karachi and later in the fake license issue raised by the Ministry of Aviation.
According to the details, PIA’s reservation service software, ‘Sabre’ for domestic and international flights became a heavy burden for the national airline. Sources revealed that PIA was struggling with ‘Sabre’ since 1997 and the contract had no exit clause which was damaging the national airline.
However, in 2018, the national airline acquired a new airline management, sales and revenue system called HITIT Computers systems, from a Turkish company. With that PIA ended its 20-year partnership with Sabre, a United States (US) based company.
At that time the corporation attempted to sabotage the airlines’ business by spreading negative propaganda against PIA before its partner airlines and agents. The national flag carrier has revealed that Sabre Inc. had went to great lengths to disrupt the airline’s migration from its age-old reservation system to the new Turkish HITIT System.
According to media reports, the US-based company was being used as a surveillance tool to watch over travelers across the world. Stretching back to the 9/11 terror attacks, the US government has secretly asked the company to actively spy on suspects’ movements. As a result, in the past anyone even thinking about moving away of ‘Sabre’, was changed.
The US government, for years, used it to track individuals worldwide, whether through tapping calls or sharing the location of bank withdrawals. Moreover, according to sources, Pakistan International Airlines had saved $70 million in the first year of implementation of the new system. However, in two years the national flag carrier saved 2 billion rupees.
It is pertinent to mention here that in 1994, PIA became a client of ‘Sabre’ and its in-house flight reservation system. This move was highly criticized but the management kept using this system.
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