News release

PricewaterhouseCoopers and HP to Accelerate Pace of Business Innovation for Global Aviation Industry

Aviation Solution Center Will Further Evolve "Web-enabled" Airlines and Airports

NEW YORK - May 29, 2001

The Management Consulting Services practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers and Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HWP) today announced that they plan to bring to market a new generation of innovative and practical business solutions for aviation companies through a jointly established Aviation Solution Center.

The Aviation Solution Center's shared resources will include people, products and services from PricewaterhouseCoopers' aviation consulting practice and HP's infrastructure and consulting services team. The center will design, develop, implement and operate a wide variety of business solutions for airlines, airports and other aviation industry companies. These solutions are focused on enabling aviation customers to boost productivity and service quality, drive down operational costs and enhance revenues. The global market for appliances, software and consulting services aimed at the aviation industry is estimated at US$15 billion per year.

The companies made their announcement at the World Air Transport Summit, held by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Scott Hartz, global managing partner of the Management Consulting Services practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said, "We strongly believe that the time is ripe for collaboration geared toward the aviation industry. Having worked closely with most of the industry's top players for more than a decade, we know that these companies seek new business relationships and models to deliver quality and value to their customers and within their own organizations. We share a common vision with HP of addressing the current challenges of the aviation industry through a significant new value proposition."

"Our work with PricewaterhouseCoopers has been designed to deliver highly customized Internet technologies and services to improve customer service and business efficiency," said Ann Livermore, president of HP Services. "HP has a long history of working with the world's leading airlines, airports, air traffic management organizations and logistics companies to develop industry-specific solutions and services in the aviation and transportation marketplace. From HP's perspective, this is an ideal marketplace to deploy our innovative mobility and services delivery capabilities."

The Aviation Solution Center is designed to work with clients in a flexible and collaborative manner, sharing the costs and rewards of developing and implementing new solutions. Clients will be able to tap the Aviation Solution Center to determine how to meet their unique business objectives, while remaining focused on anticipating and exceeding the rapidly evolving needs of air travelers.

Both customer-facing business processes and behind-the-scenes operations will be explored and formulated through the Aviation Solution Center. Planned solution focus areas include:

• Hurdle-free airport - deploying wireless and personal digital assistant (PDA) technology to remove the obstacles to a smooth passenger experience, allowing airports and airlines to better service passengers, at lower cost;
• Wireless ramp - improving the effectiveness of ground, ramp and baggage handling functions to deliver better aircraft turnaround performance and punctuality;
• Connected crew - revolutionizing the communications, management and deployment of a geographically dispersed workforce, using real-time portal technologies to keep crew members informed, connected and ready for action;
• Always-on travel - building continually connected access to travel products using advanced mobile technologies and devices;
• e-CRM (customer relationship management) - understanding and enhancing customer interaction and experiences by using the Web to draw on data from all customer touch-points;
• Integrated maintenance, repair and overhaul - efficiently managing aircraft maintenance and repair functions by deploying an enhanced, automated engineering infrastructure to rapidly analyze issues and apply best practices to resolve them.

Hewlett-Packard Company - a leading global provider of computing and imaging solutions and services - is focused on making technology and its benefits accessible to individuals and businesses through simple appliances, useful e-services and solutions for an Internet infrastructure that's always on.

HP had total revenue from continuing operations of $48.8 billion in its 2000 fiscal year. Information about HP and its products can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com.

About PricewaterhouseCoopers

PricewaterhouseCoopers' global aviation consulting practice - comprising more than 600 air transport practitioners - currently serves more than 20 of the world's top 30 airlines. Supported by comprehensive knowledge management and professional development programs - including centers of excellence in London, Chicago, and Tokyo - PricewaterhouseCoopers aviation consultants use industry-specific tools and methodologies to optimize their service delivery and generate measurable business results for leading air transportation companies around the world. More information can be found at www.pwcglobal.com/aviation.

The Management Consulting Services practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers helps clients maximize their business performance by integrating strategic change, process improvements and technology solutions. Through a worldwide network of skills and resources, consultants manage complex projects with global capabilities and local knowledge, from strategy through implementation. PricewaterhouseCoopers (www.pwcglobal.com) is the world's largest professional services organization. Drawing on the knowledge and skills of more than 150,000 people in 150 countries, we help our clients solve complex business problems and measurably enhance their ability to build value, manage risk and improve performance in an Internet-enabled world.

PricewaterhouseCoopers refers to the member firms of the worldwide PricewaterhouseCoopers organization.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they never materialize or prove incorrect, could cause the results of HP and its consolidated subsidiaries to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including any projections of earnings, revenues, or other financial items; any statements of the plans, strategies, and objectives of management for future operations; any statements concerning proposed new products, services, or developments; any statements regarding future economic conditions or performance; statements of belief and any statement of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. The risks, uncertainties and assumptions referred to above include the ability of HP to retain and motivate key employees; the timely development, production and acceptance of products and services and their feature sets; the challenge of managing asset levels, including inventory; the flow of products into third-party distribution channels; the difficulty of keeping expense growth at modest levels while increasing revenues; and other risks that are described from time to time in HP's Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including but not limited to the annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended Oct. 31, 2000, and subsequently filed reports. HP does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.