Will you ride on an airplane in January 2000?

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If you are a regular traveler, have you made any personal decision about whether you would schedule travel on an airplane in early 2000? I'm curious to find out if anyone knowlegable about the Y2K problem would plan to fly then. I don't believe that I would. Also curious as to when the airlines will begin to notice a drop in reservations - I suppose most people don't schedule airplane flights much more than about 30 days

-- Dan Hunt (dhunt@hostscorp.com), April 13, 1998

Answers

I think most of us in the computer field would feel that it was unnecessary and imprudent to take such a risk -- but I think it's far more likely that the issue will be decided by others: the airlines, the airports, and the various government agencies, not to mention the pilots' unions and the insurance companies that might be expected to reimburse any losses from Y2K-related problems.

So that suggests an interesting way of looking at things: if the pilots are willing to fly, and if the insurance agencies feel safe, and the government regulators are willing to certify that FAA is compliant, and the airports are open ... well, then, maybe it IS safe to fly! After all, I have to assume that the pilots are just as interested in staying alive as I am, if not more so!

Even so, you won't find me on an airplane on 1/1/2000.

-- Ed Yourdon (yourdon@worldnet.att.net), April 13, 1998.


I have been told by a captain, of a major airline, that he is not planning to step on an airplane for at least the first two weeks of 2000.

-- Mac Horne (mhorneIII@webtv.net), April 15, 1998.

I was told by a State Government agency official that his Department of Transportation oversees and is responsible for the computer system that displays gate information at a major national airport (and for the baggage handling system). It was not clear if the system has Y2K problems; only that it must be checked out. It is possible that you will not know where to go to catch the flight or which carousel has your luggage.

-- Stephen Taylor (sdtaylor@erols.com), April 15, 1998.

No way.

-- Howard Hughes (stay@home.com), April 15, 1998.

Well I won't be anywhere near an airport on 31 Dec 1999. But -- the Y2K Program Office Director for the FAA says he WILL be in the air when rollover happens.

``This isn't blind faith, this is a logical expression of the confidence I have that each line of code in each of the FAA's computer systems will properly recognize the rollover to the year 2000,'' he said.

Interesting -- but it hasn't changed my mind.

See http://biz.yahoo.com/finance/980415/millennium_2.html for the full article.

-- Murray Spork (murray@bucks.net), April 16, 1998.



Well I won't be anywhere near an airport on 31 Dec 1999. But -- the Y2K Program Office Director for the FAA says he WILL be in the air when rollover happens.

``This isn't blind faith, this is a logical expression of the confidence I have that each line of code in each of the FAA's computer systems will properly recognize the rollover to the year 2000,'' he said.

Interesting -- but it hasn't changed my mind.

See http://biz.yahoo.com/finance/980415/millennium_2.html for the full article.

Answered by Murray Spork (murray@bucks.net) on April 16, 1998. ****************************** He may change his mind in the next 20 months even if there are any planes flying on 1/1/2000

-- Joe Stout (joewstout@iswt.com), April 16, 1998.


As a former airline captain with one of the majors, I would answer this way. Almost everything that is flying today has computers in them to one degree or other, but I personally if I were going to fly in that time period(which I am not going to do) I would stick to old technology. 747-100,200's, 727's 737-100 & 200's. The Douglas and McDonnell stuff I don't know about. Most of the very old prop types such as the DC6/7, Connies etc, would be no problem. The older generation of aircraft can and would operate Visual Flight Rules(VFR) if allowed by the Air Traffic Control folks. They would not depend on computers except for weight planning(which supposedly can be done manually yet)flight planning-can be done manually if anyone can remember how to do it, reservations, crew scheduling and a whole host of other things. But the actual flying can be done, but it would entail a whole new set of circumstances that the new generation of pilots would be totally uncomfortable with. Everyone now is so heavily into technology that to do without a radio and radar and the various navigational aids would be a major challange. The unspoken problem is where to do you get all the kerosene that is necessary to fuel the beast(we used to take on about 370,000# of kerosene to go to Tokyo from JFK). Then the local airport nav aids to assist in landing and weather reporting and enroute assistance. Just forget it! Let the dust settle and see what happens.

-- Eugene G. Peterson (carvgene@gis.net), April 19, 1998.

Last June flying a 747-100 from SFO to our nations capital with an FAA inspector in the cockpit, I asked him about the millennium bug and the FAA's progress towards a fix. He stated," I know what your talking about Captain and if I was you, I would not be flying December 31,1999 ...we're not going to make it!" Needless to say, turning 60 August of 2000, I don't think I'm going to hang around. One in the hand is worth two in the bush..so I'm planning on early retirement this summer.

-- edgar cayce (edc41@sprintmail.com), April 19, 1998.

The relatively new airport in Denver is not Y2K compliant. I'll keep my feet planted firmly on the ground come 12/31/99.

http://guide-p.infoseek.com/Content?arn=ix.PHX81080108&col=IX

-- Melinda Gierisch (gieriscm@hotmail.com), April 20, 1998.


I am a mechanic for a major airline and you would be suprised to find out how many people dont have a clue. Even the pilots dont even know what the y2k problem is, and the company dosnt seem to want to tell them. I probably wont be at work that day, no big deal I will be ready

-- d turner (dturner@imssdey.com), April 24, 1998.


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