Re: Interesting article...

On 5/4/05, Wilt, Charles <CWilt@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Steve,
> 
> I read through the higher rated posts.  Here's some quotes from an anonymous 
> Comair employee...
> http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=134005&cid=11189578
> or http://tinyurl.com/8fly3
> "This very same software package is used by many other airlines, including 
> the two I worked for before coming to Comair. I don't know if their systems 
> have the same hard-coded limit that ours does or not."
> 
> "As of 10:00 pm on 12/24, that limit was reached. Crew Scheduling was unable 
> to create any new pairings, unable to track who would be flying what airplane 
> to where, and basically unable to keep the airline flying at that point."
> 
> "A major part of the problem is Comair's concentration in Cincinnati. CVG is 
> our only crew base, and it is the largest single crew base of any airline in 
> the world. Over 1800 pilots and 1100 flight attendants in one base. Not even 
> any of the majors have a single base that large. Several of our software 
> packages are woefully inadequate, and replacements have been sought for some 
> time."
> 
> "Jan. 1 starts a new month, and the system will return to full functionality 
> then. Until that date, however, our operations will be very limited."
> 
> Now I did find this quote in the thread started by the post above, I assume 
> it is the same anonymous person:
> http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=134005&threshold=-1&commentsort=0&tid=128&tid=126&mode=thread&pid=11201438
> or http://tinyurl.com/bd9zt
> "they were notified of this. It was in the Y2K report that was given to them 
> August 1999, by an risk analysis contractor which they paid for."
> 
> However, the post doesn't make it clear what "this" is.  Just a mention of 
> the limitation, or a full in depth breakdown on what would happen if the 
> system ever hit the limit.
> 
> Some other quotes from the CIO article...
> "All in all, there seemed to be no hurry on either Comair or Delta's part to 
> get the project rolling, even though the crew scheduling system was (and 
> still is) the oldest application of its kind still running at a regional 
> carrier, according to a recent survey by Regional Aviation News."
> 
> Taken together, it seems unlikely that anybody else had ever actually run 
> into this particular limit.  More evidence would be the lack of any similar 
> stories in the past.  I'd imagine that an airline shutting down for days 
> would have made the news.

Hi Charles,

slashdot is good source of info, no? 

I cant prove you wrong but what about this ...  Sabre was selling a
competing version of the software.  at least a 6 figure, possibly 7
figure price tag for the replacement system.  Wouldnt the people
marketing the replacement software know the weaknesses of what Comair
was using?  The salesperson would not use that info when marketing to
Comair?

I am a cynic when it comes to business.  It is not just the Comair
execs who would look bad if what I think is the true story of the
Comair meltdown came to light.  It is the FAA that regulates and
approves all software used in the operation of an airline.  Since the
FAA imposes all these requirements on airline software to supposedly
make sure the airline is safe, shouldnt FAA officials be held
accountable when the system fails?

-Steve

> 
> 
> Charles Wilt
> iSeries Systems Administrator / Developer
> Mitsubishi Electric Automotive America
> ph: 513-573-4343
> fax: 513-398-1121
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> > [mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Steve Richter
> > Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2005 10:56 AM
> > To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
> > Subject: Re: Interesting article...
> >
> >
> >
> > I haven't either Charles. I am guessing on all of this, but based on
> > my experience, what we all have learned in our careers, users and
> > programmers become specialized in packages.   Comair was using a
> > package for their crew scheduling system.  So it has to be that those
> > specialists were aware of the parameters of the package.  The fact
> > that management does not listen to the specialist is not surprising -
> > but it just focuses the blame where it should be - the DP managers.
> >
> > -Steve
> >
> 
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