<Y2K bug> -Airlines booking checks out,hotels to check today-No problems.
Dorine:
Aren't you in the travel industry,so this must be good news for everybody who is worried about the Y2K thing,at least a good start.Sabre and Galileo checks out,reports no problems,pheeeeeew.
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Computers OK as airline booking for 2000 starts
By Dan Sewell
Associated Press
Published: Feb. 5, 1999
ATLANTA -- Travel agents and airlines said on Thursday that computerized booking for Jan. 1, 2000, began without any problems, an indication that the industry's Year 2000 debugging efforts have been successful.
No major difficulties were reported related to the possible inability of some computer systems to recognize the year 2000.
"Delta's computerized reservation systems are performing precisely as planned," said Charlie Feld, chief information officer for the Atlanta-based carrier.
At United Airlines in Chicago, the first reservations were booked shortly after midnight, and the system sailed on without problem. Like Delta, United and other airlines had been changing and testing their computer systems for months and were confident -- but Thursday was the real test.
"We really felt we were ready," said spokeswoman Kristina Price, who estimated United has spent $70 million on its Year 2000 Project.
"We think this was the first major milestone."
"The day has gone by without a hitch. We're very excited it went so smoothly," said Jennifer Hudson of Sabre Group, which is largely owned by American Airlines' parent company and has 40,000 travel agencies using its reservations system. "We had tested and re-tested for this day for months."
At Worldspan, an Atlanta-based system owned by Delta, Northwest Airlines and TransWorld Airlines, no Y2K-related glitches were reported Thursday.
At least one carrier still isn't booking flights for Jan. 1, though.
Ed Stewart, Southwest Airlines' director of public relations, said Dallas-based Southwest always leaves a four- to six-month lead time on bookings.
"That's going to depend on the people in reservations," he replied, when asked when it will start taking Jan. 1 bookings.
The computerized reservations systems used by major airlines and many car rental and other travel industry businesses display dates for sale only 331 days in advance.
Thus, Thursday became the first day to book travel for next Jan. 1.
For efficiency, most computer software was designed to recognize years by just the final two digits rather than all four. For the year 2000, computer systems that have not been reprogrammed will interpret double zero to mean 1900 and many could stop functioning -- a syndrome dubbed "the Y2K bug."
The travel industry expects the period around New Year's Eve and Jan. 1, 2000, to be busy, with people heading to celebrations and other gatherings. Cruise packages have been particularly popular for millennium-related celebrations, travel agents say.
Lanelle Johnson of Carlson Wagonlit Travel in Atlanta said some cruises, particularly to the Caribbean, are already sold out. She added that travel agents are expecting to become increasingly busy as prices are set for fly-and-drive land vacation packages in the coming weeks.
She and other travel agents say some people worried about a Y2K-caused catastrophe have asked whether it will be safe to travel.
"We have told them we don't expect there to be a problem," she said.
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