FAA, O'Hare are declared Y2k ready (again)

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http://www.chicago.tribune.com/version1/article/0,1575,SAV-9912080106,00.html

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FAA, O'HARE ARE DECLARED Y2K READY

By Jon Hilkevitch Tribune Transportation Writer December 08, 1999

Modifications continue on software that helps air-traffic controllers direct planes through the Chicago area's busy airspace, but the changes will not affect the Y2K readiness of the region's aviation system, the Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday.

The reassurances that the FAA, O'Hare International and Midway Airports, and all carriers serving both facilities are Y2K compliant came during an inspection of O'Hare's control tower by U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.).

The FAA routinely revises software used to track aircraft, and agency officials said that fully tested and certified Y2K fixes are part of the replacement computer programs.

"As improvements to systems are made, testing and follow-up verifications are conducted to ensure continued Y2K compliance," said FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro. "That vigilance will carry through to the rollover on New Year's Eve, when there will be extra technicians working to deal with any unexpected problems that, although unlikely, might arise."

Fitzgerald, explaining that he was concerned about possible Y2K-related flight delays and passenger safety being compromised, said the reason for Tuesday's visit was to see what actions the FAA had taken.

"The FAA has assured me that passenger safety is its top priority," the senator said. "They have also told me that they do not expect more flight delays at O'Hare because of Y2K-related glitches."

The Department of Transportation reported last month that the nation's 10 largest airlines were also completely Y2K compliant. The department also said that none of the nation's 565 FAA-regulated airports was found to have Y2K problems of a "mission-critical nature" that would affect safety

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), December 08, 1999

Answers

http://www.azcentral.com/news/1208y2kflights.shtml

Link

Airlines curb Dec. 31 flights

Demand, not safety, the issue

By Peter Corbett The Arizona Republic Dec. 8, 1999

As midnight nears in Arizona on New Year's Eve, FAA chief Jane Garvey will fly over the Four Corners region in virtually empty skies.

Her flight, aimed at reassuring travelers that Y2K glitches won't cause planes to fall out of the sky, will have little commercial air traffic to contend with as airlines scale back their flight schedules.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Paul Takemoto said the agency doesn't expect anything more alarming on the flight than a popping cork from Champagne smuggled aboard by reporters covering Garvey's trip.

Still, flights will be scarce as the new millennium approaches.

That's because airlines are scaling back their schedules by 20 to 30 percent over New Year's. But U.S. carriers insist it's not because of Y2K-related fears of flying. Instead, the abbreviated flight schedules reflect a normal dropoff in demand over the holiday.

Patterns for air travel this year are fairly typical of previous New Years when the holiday fell on the weekend, according to Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Melanie Jones.

Dallas-based Southwest, which has a heavy presence in Phoenix, is reducing its schedule 27 percent on New Year's Eve and about 35 percent on Jan. 1, including a 10-hour shutdown, Jones said.

The airline will park its planes at 10 p.m. Dec. 31 and resume flying at 8 a.m. on Jan. 1, affecting about 167 flights, she said.

Tempe-based America West, the dominant carrier in Phoenix, is reducing its schedule by as much as 30 percent, according to Bill McGlashen, president of America West's flight attendants union.

America West officials did not return repeated phone calls about the airline's holiday flight schedule.

Phoenix-based Mesa Air Group, which operates America West Express and U.S. Airways Express, will shut down from about 10 p.m. Dec. 31 to 8 a.m. Jan. 1, according to Ron Brady, director of planning.

Some of the reduced demand, according to airline industry officials, is due to companies requiring employees to work or be close to their offices to cope with any Y2K issues that crop up. Another factor is the perceived price gouging for millennium celebrations and hotels requiring minimum four-day stays over the holiday weekend, observers say.

"Nobody seems overly concerned about" Y2K-related flight problems, said Ken Van Epps, owner of Moon Valley Travel in Phoenix. "I've heard more complaints about what it costs."

Confidence in traveling over New Year's has been steadily increasing, said spokeswoman Sophie Bethune of the Air Transport Association, an industry trade group.

Just under half those polled in June 1998 expected major problems with air travel over the millennium. That declined to 19 percent in September, Bethune said.

"We think it's more of a millennium issue than Y2K fears." she said of reduced demand. "People want to be down on the ground with their families or seeing the new year in with a bang."

To allay remaining Y2K fears, the aviation agency's Garvey is scheduled to fly on American Airlines from Washington, D.C., to Dallas on New Year's Eve and then on to San Francisco, arriving just after midnight local time.

She will leave Washington's Reagan National Airport at 5:10 p.m. EST and will be in the air at the critical time for airline and air traffic control computers. Those systems run on Greenwich Mean Time. Midnight Greenwich Mean Time is 5 p.m. Arizona time.

Her flight could take her over northern Arizona or southern Utah, depending on the weather, at about midnight Arizona time, according to John Hotard of American Airlines.

Aviation agency spokesman Takemoto, who will be on the flight, ridiculed the doom and gloom scenarios for air travel, saying he has absolutely no safety concerns. He expects to be celebrating New Year's in San Francisco with his 103-year-old grandmother.

"We were all scratching our heads over the prediction of planes falling out of the sky and half the nation's air fleet grounded," he said. The dire warning "assumed a life of its own and somehow obtained a currency that's not based in the real world."

The agency said last month that there are no Y2K problems that should keep any of the major U.S. airlines from complying with safety standards on Jan. 1, though there have been concerns about some international travel.

"We feel very sure our operations will be safe," Jones said about Southwest.

United, Delta, American and other carriers have said they are cutting back their schedules, primarily because of reduced demand.

American is cutting its schedule 20 percent on Dec. 31, up from about 10 percent last year, and will fly 95 percent of its flights on Jan. 1.

United spokeswoman Kristina Price said the nation's largest carrier is reducing its daily schedule of nearly 2,400 flights by 22 percent on Dec. 31 and 12 percent on Jan. 1.

Northwest Airlines said it has canceled 10 international and about 400 of its domestic flights for Dec. 31-Jan. 1 because of lower demand. spokeswoman Kathy Peach said.

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), December 08, 1999.


Homer, this was all they needed to write; it says it all!!!

"Modifications continue on software that helps air-traffic controllers direct planes through the Chicago area's busy airspace, but the changes will not affect the Y2K readiness ..."

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 08, 1999.


"The reassurances that the FAA and blah blah are Y2K compliant"

Yup. REASSURANCES is right. How many times now?

Wouldn't it be nice, just once, to hear a utility or service say "Nah, we're not putting any extra staff on. I told ya, we're fixed. Sure, if the power goes, we're screwed, but what good would extra staff do us then anyway?" rather than the tedious mantra "We're fixed! But just in case..."

-- Servant (public_service@yahoo.com), December 08, 1999.


How compliant is the FAA???

See the following article if you haven't read it yet:

http://www.y2knewswire.com/reports/Airfoiled-Public.htm

-- No Polly (nopolly@hotmail.com), December 08, 1999.


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