In the short term things look very good. But...has anyone considered what Y2K problem will mean to Air Canada's bottom line? I believe that the expenses incurred to deal with the problem are considerable, however, unlikely to cause too much damage to the bottom line. I see the greatest damage coming from either a disruption of flight schedules, computer systems etc due to industry non-compliance or lack of dependent services (worst case) OR... even if the worst case doesn't materialize, I suspect a big drop in revenue during the golden "Christmas and New Years" period because the public may be simply too afraid to risk flying. Better safe than sorry.
Here's a copied link from a related Y2K site here on SI...
"This article appears on page 3 of The Toronto Star, April 22, 1998. It
doesn't appear to be on the Star's web site, so I'll quote the whole
thing.
Note especially the last paragraph.
Year 2000 bug has airlines concerned. Ottawa (CP)
The Canadian airline industry says that, despite being ahead of other
countries in readying its computers for the new millennium, there are no guarantees that it will be safe to travel by plane on Jan. 1, 2000.
The major airlines might decide not to land in certain locations around
the world because these airports have not dealt adequately with the
computer problem and service in Canada could be cut if there are systems failures, Clifford Mackay, president of the Air Transport Association of Canada, told the Commons industry committee yesterday.
"Our first priority in addressing this problem is safety - nothing else
is more important to us," said Mackay, adding that Canadian carriers
could spend more than $100 million to make their systems year 2000
compliant.
Jets Need Fixing
Domestic airlines and the air traffic control authority, Nav Canada, say
they are on schedule for having their systems fixed and tested by the
new millennium. But the interdependent nature of the industry means
other unprepared carriers or even suppliers could throw the whole
network off.
Worldwide, an estimated 13,000 ticketing terminals will have to be
replaced. Boeing recently advised the industry that all of its jets will
have to be fixed to deal with the millennium bug.
Between 50 and 75 per cent of Air Canada's computers will be replaced before the year 2000. Canadian Airlines said most of its computers will need to be fixed, not replaced.
In a separate presentation, Ottawa Hydro also admitted that it could not give any sweeping assurances that service would not be interrupted. Electricity systems are part of a huge interconnected grid, which extends into the U.S.
_____
Path: news.worldonline.nl!newsgate.cistron.nl!het.net!newspump.monmouth.com!newspeer.monmouth.com!howland.erols.net!newsfeed.direct.ca!pln-w!spln!extra.newsguy.com!newsp.newsguy.com!enews2
From: Daniel Weller <weller@revealed.net>
Newsgroups: comp.software.year-2000
Subject: Canada-airlines and power grid
Date: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 14:01:10 -0500
Organization: extra.newsguy.com |
