Hewlett-Packard Co has won contract worth at least $18m from American Airlines for computer systems for a project the partners believe will be the largest corporate information system of its kind outside the computer industry. The contract is part of American’s Interaact integrated office systems project, designed to benefit its professional staff by providing quick and simple access to information from multiple resources, the ability to share information easily, and better worldwide communications. The contract covers more than 135 HP3000 business computers, NewWave software and the DeskManager electronic-mail system. To start with, Hewlett will supply HP3000 Model 70 and Micro 3000GX systems, but will upgrade to the 32-bit RISC Precision Architecture systems within a year. The system, serving 14,000 employees, will also have links to other systems such as IBM SNA networks. No word on whether NewWave will be running on Hewlett personal computers or on other MS-DOS boxes already used by American.
