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Technology Stocks : Discuss Year 2000 Issues -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill Ounce who wrote (1642)	5/4/1998 11:59:00 AM
From: Cheeky Kid	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9818

Bill, (1) FAA Air Traffic Control system (2) Electrical power generation and distribution (3) General Motors ability to manufacture automobiles (4) International trading and banking systems It's all these big systems, plus the usual time required to make changes to them, that makes me take Y2K seriously. Agreed, these systems obviuosly have to be checked, am am not sure if you read my prior posts. I Never said there was no Y2K problem. I think you know where I stand on the Y2K subject. AS for the HOME appliances, they will work in 2000, unless we are talking old computers running out dated software.

To: Bill Ounce who wrote (1642)	5/4/1998 12:19:00 PM
From: R. Bond	Respond to of 9818

>>"To pretend it doesn't exist is irresponsible."<< >>"Anyone who makes a statement now promising people they can fly anywhere after 2000 and be perfectly safe, before the checking process is complete, is gambling with peoples' lives."<< I expect the Global Millennium Compliance Forum to be making some serious news soon. While riding in a cab 2 weeks ago in London, I heard on the radio that a list of no-fly zones was going to be released by an airline 'group' 'within the next few days'. The story has never surfaced, that I've heard. Curious, Bond --------------------------- From Time Out Magazine in London, April 29, 1998: KLM to ground planes over near-miss fears A major international airline has threatened to ground flights into Heathrow, Gatwick, and other airports in the south-east if it is not satisfied that British air traffic control systems will be safe in time for the millennium. Dutch national airline KLM, which runs hundreds of flights into London and the south-east, has vowed not to allow its planes to take off unless it is completely assured that the systems controlling the capital's airports are safe from the so-called Millennium Bug. "The problem with transport is that to get from A to B you depend on so many separate computer systems, and with the millennium, nothing can automatically be presumed to be safe," explained KLM communications manager Hugo Bass. "If we discover that a ground control system cannot be changed, then at least we can be prepared. We must guarantee the safety of our passengers above all else, and if there is any risk at all of a system not being compliant, we will make sure our planes do not fly over that area, grounding them temporarily." Bass warned the authorities responsible for ensuring British ground control systems meet the year 2000 guidelines to ignore those who dismiss as mere scaremonger the suggestion that the dateline change could cause chaos in the skies. Earlier this month, it emerged that a new state-of-the-art computerised air traffic control centre which should have taken over from existing, outdated facilities at West Drayton near London in December 1996 will not now open until after the end of 1999. The systems at West Drayton are said to be running close to full capacity and, because of their age, are not believed to be fully millennium compliant. Industry insiders have warned that more near misses will occur in coming months because the systems are simply unable to cope. "When we started checking our systems in Holland we found so many problems that we realised there was an urgent need to take a proactive role in order to raise awareness among other airlines," said Bass. "We must be critical and realistic. To pretend it doesn't exist is irresponsible. It is no use presuming systems will carry on working. They have to be rigorously tested, again and again." To this end, KLM has set up the Global Millennium Compliance Forum with its partners, including Alitalia. The Forum is currently drawing up a list of areas which will become no-fly zones after December 31, 1999. Bass suggested that KLM flights could be staggered on safe routes over the millennium, to ensure a greater separation between traffic to give a grater margin for error. "Anyone who makes a statement now promising people they can fly anywhere after 2000 and be perfectly safe, before the checking process is complete, is gambling with peoples' lives," he warned.