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

A method, in a data processing system, for bartering for a service from a fixed base operator associated with an airport, the method comprising:

• connecting a hand-held computing device, aboard an aircraft that is airborne and en-route to the airport, to a plurality of computing systems of a plurality of fixed base operators associated with the airport;
• displaying a graphical user interface on the hand-held computing device;
• receiving, at the graphical user interface, a transportation request, entered by a selection of a type of vehicle, a pick up date and time, a drop off date and time, a gate of the airport for a pickup location, the gate or another gate of the airport for a drop off location, and a negotiation preference, using a plurality of pre-configured drop down menus and a touch screen functionality of the graphical user interface;
• identifying, by a processor of the hand held computing device, one or more fixed base operators, of the plurality of fixed base operators associated with the airport, that provide a plurality of services responsive to a transportation request;
• transmitting a request for a quote on providing the plurality of services to each computing system of the one or more fixed base operators, wherein the request for the quote includes one or more negotiation criteria;
• and
• receiving, from each computing system of one or more quotes on providing the plurality of services, wherein the one or more quotes received are ranked based on the one or more negotiation criteria.

A computer program product having computer usable program code stored in a non-transitory computer recordable medium for bartering for a service from a service provider associated with an airport, the computer usable program code when executed by a processor performs the following steps:

• connecting a hand-held computing device, aboard an aircraft that is airborne and en-route to the airport, to a plurality of computing systems of a plurality of fixed base operators associated with the airport;
• displaying a graphical user interface on the hand-held computing device;
• receiving, at the graphical user interface, a transportation request, entered by a selection of a type of vehicle, a pick up date and time, a drop off date and time, a gate of the airport for a pickup location, the gate or another gate of the airport for a drop off location, and a negotiation preference, using a plurality of pre-configured drop down menus and a touch screen functionality of the graphical user interface;
• identifying, by a processor of the hand held computing device, one or more fixed base operators, of the plurality of fixed base operators associated with the airport, that provide a plurality of services responsive to a transportation request;
• transmitting a request for a quote on providing the plurality of services to each computing system of the one or more fixed base operators, wherein the request for the quote includes one or more negotiation criteria;
• and
• receiving, from each computing system, one or more quotes on providing the plurality of services, wherein the one or more quotes received are ranked based on the one or more negotiation criteria.

An apparatus for bartering for a service from a fixed base operator associated with an airport, the apparatus comprising:

• a hand held computing device having a processor;
• and
• a storage device connected to the hand held device, wherein instructions are stored on the storage device, the instructions configured to perform, by the processor, actions comprising:
• connecting the hand-held computing device, aboard an aircraft that is airborne and en-route to the airport, to a plurality of computing systems of a plurality of fixed base operators associated with the airport;
• displaying a service request and negotiation graphical user interface on the hand-held computing device, the service request and negotiation graphical user interface having a plurality of pre-configured drop down menus and a touch screen functionality;
• receiving a plurality of entries at the graphical user interface for a transportation request, wherein the transportation request is entered by a plurality of inputs using the touch screen functionality, the plurality of inputs comprising a type of vehicle, a pick up date and time, a drop off date and time, a gate of the airport for a pickup location, a gate of the airport for a drop off location, and a negotiation preference;
• identifying one or more fixed base operators associated with the airport that provide the type of requested service transmitting a request for a quote on for fulfilling the transportation request into each computing system of the one or more fixed base operators associated with the airport that provide the transportation request;
• and
• instructing the negotiation engine to automatically negotiate with each computing system of the one or more fixed base operators based on one or more negotiation criteria until the controller determines a better deal on the transportation request is not obtainable.

A method, in a data processing system, for bartering for a service from a fixed base operator associated with an airport, the method comprising:

• connecting a hand-held computing device aboard an aircraft, that is airborne and en-route to the airport, to a plurality of computing systems of a plurality of fixed base operators associated with the airport;
• entering a transportation request, by a pilot of the aircraft, at a service request and negotiation graphical user interface displayed on the hand-held computing device, wherein the transportation request is entered by selecting a type of vehicle, a pick up date and time, a drop off date and time, a gate of the airport for a pickup location, a gate of the airport for a drop off location, and a negotiation preference using a plurality of pre-configured drop down menus and a touch screen functionality in the graphical user interface;
• identifying, by a processor unit of the hand held computing device, one or more fixed base operators associated with the airport that provide the type of requested service, wherein identifying the one or more fixed base operators includes performing a lookup of fixed base operators in a fixed base operator directory based on the type of the requested service;
• transmitting, by the processor unit, a request for a quote on to each computing system of the one or more fixed base operators;
• automatically negotiating, by the processor unit, with each computing system of the one or more fixed base operators based on one or more negotiation criteria until the processor unit determines a better deal on the transportation request will not be obtained, wherein the one or more negotiation criteria are identified in the transportation request, and wherein the one or more negotiation criteria include at least one of lowest cost, best delivery time, preferred service provider, and type of transportation;
• responsive to a determination by the processor unit that the better deal on the transportation request is not obtainable, ranking quotes from the one or more fixed base operators based on the one or more negotiation criteria;
• transmitting one or more advertisements for a subset of the one or more fixed base operators based on the ranking of quotes from the one or more fixed base operators, wherein the one or more advertisements include information obtained from the quotes from the one or more fixed base operators;
• receiving an order from the hand held computing device based on a selection of an advertisement from the one or more advertisements;
• and
• transmitting the order to a fixed base operator identified in the order.