Subj: Airline Industry Will Soon Find Out Whether It Has... Date: 1/28/99 8:42:55 AM US Mountain Standard Time From: AOL News BCC: Lulu010101

Airline Industry Will Soon Find Out Whether It Has Conquered the Millennium Bug, Reports Travel Weekly

SECAUCUS, N.J., Jan. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The threat of the elusive 'Millennium Bug' may be causing anxiety around the globe, but the U.S. airline industry will know this coming Feb. 4 whether it has beaten at least one part of the bug.

That is the first day that flights departing on Jan. 1, 2000 open up for sale, according to Michele McDonald, aviation editor for Travel Weekly, the leading newspaper of the travel industry. McDonald reports that the U.S. airline industry has been working on the issue of the Millennium Bug for years and is confident in its ability to successfully manage the impending Year 2000 problem.

The story quotes Donald Carty, chairman at American Airlines, who noted that the job of eradicating the Year 2000 problem is "virtually complete" on its own internal systems. He added that there is still an enormous amount of work to be done when one considers the number of outside vendors an airline's system interacts with -- including aircraft and parts manufacturers and fuel suppliers.

Corruption of an internal system does not mean, however, that safety systems are in jeopardy -- a fact that should allay the fears of travelers who believe planes will fall out of the sky next New Year's Eve. According to McDonald, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is stressing that even in the least prepared situation, the issue is not safety. All safety systems have manual backup systems which can be activated.

The importance of the Y2K issue to the entire airline industry is reflected in the way the world's largest carrier, United Airlines, has dealt with the problem -- "intensively" since 1995. From establishing a Y2K project office staffed by information specialists to assigning representatives in each of the airline's divisions to deal with issues particular to that division, United has taken broad steps to deal with the problem before it becomes critical.

McDonald notes that the airlines, the Air Transport Association, the International Air Transport Association and airline suppliers are all collaborating and sharing information on common issues to ensure that "no stone -- or computer chip -- is left unturned."

SOURCE Travel Weekly

CO: Travel Weekly; International Air Transport Association

ST: New Jersey

IN: AIR LEI MLM

SU:

01/28/99 10:42 EST http://www.prnewswire.com

-- lulu (lulu010101@aol.com), January 28, 1999

Answers

My parents talked to an international airline pilot on Wed. He claims that his understanding is that most of the airlines will be grounded on Jan 1, 2000. He said that he expected that the airlines would sent test pilots out to see if the planes work. He stated that storing the grounded planes could be a problem because there is not enough room in airports to store them. According to him, about 50% of the planes are in the air at any one time. I realize that this testimony contradicts published press reports.

Please note: I cannot confirm or deny that this is accurate. Judge for yourself. If you find more info on this subject, I would sure like to here it.

-- Sue (conibear@gateway.net), January 28, 1999.

Thanks Sue - seems logical to me ;)

Andy

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), January 29, 1999.

Any domestic pilots out there? What is the word in U.S.?

-- Other Lisa (LisaWard2@aol.com), January 29, 1999.

My flying experience is military, but i got a three-year dose of running a large airfield/airport operation before I retired from the military.

It's true that there are going to be problems with the air traffic control system. Most likely these won't immediately come from things like radar failures, but from communication systems failing and not letting the pilots file flight plans. No flight plans in the FAA and ICAO computers, the plane doesn't get to take off.

People talk about non-compliant embedded systems at airfields not working and the runway lights not coming on. But I know that that on occasions we operated our airfield lighting using walkie-talkies between the control tower and an electrician working inside the lighting control vault to take the place of embedded systems damaged by lightning. And there are generators installed to insure that for some period of time, the lights will stay on.

I guess I'm saying that there are work-arounds that are available and in-use now. But how long a patched-together operation could struggle on before some shortage forces it to a final halt is the big question.

And as far as enough aircraft parking. If you can't find a spot for your car in one lot, you drive to the next. And of course the most convenient lots are full, first. Same thing with airports. If there are grounding orders, expect to see aircraft parked at airports where they don't normally spend their time. They won't fly around looking for a place to land until they run out of fuel and crash. Plans for that kind of "any port in a storm" landing arrangements have been around for quite some time. The FAA calls them SCATANA, and they go back to the 1950's question of "What do the airliners do if there's a nuclear war while they're flying"?

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), January 29, 1999.