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Technology Stocks : Y2K (Year 2000) Stocks: An Investment Discussion -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: paul e thomas who wrote (13871)	4/27/1999 10:08:00 PM
From: P. Ramamoorthy	Respond to of 13949

Saturday April 17 12:16 AM ET Boeing Passes Y2K Test, Says Fleet Safe For 2000 By Martin Wolk SEATTLE (Reuters) - No Champagne corks were popped, but -- more importantly-- the airplane did not fall from the sky Friday as Boeing Co. simulated NewYear's Eve in a final test flight to prove the world's commercial jet fleet is ready for the year 2000. ''I would have absolutely no qualms about flying when the date rolls over,'' Boeing commercial airplane group President Alan Mulally said as he climbed off the brand-new 737. ''I'm more worried about my VCR.'' The 75-minute demonstration flight was the culmination of a six-year effort to ensure that some 10,500 Boeing jets in service -- 75 percent of the world's fleet -- are free of computer bugs associated with the year 2000. The total of nine test flights culminating Friday were not required by federal regulators but were requested by Boeing's airline customers trying to assure a nervous flying public that airplane travel will be safe on, during and after Dec. 31. As the stubby 737-600 flew 20,000 feet over the northwestern tip of Washington state's Olympic Peninsula, pilot George Adams counted down the final seconds until the date rolled over to Jan. 1, 2000. ''All systems are fine,'' he reported by radio to a small group listening in at Boeing's Seattle flight test center. Boeing Chairman and Chief Executive Phil Condit, who greeted the crew on landing, acknowledged that public perception is an issue, but said concerns appear to be waning about the ability of the commercial air system to function in the new millennium. ''U.S. airlines are seeing bookings that cross year-end, and that says that the confidence is there,'' he said. In a similar test, the Federal Aviation Administration this week found no obvious glitches in the air traffic control system when it allowed some computer clocks to roll forward through midnight Dec. 31. The so-called Y2K problem stems from the fact that most computer software is programmed to treat the year as a two-digit number, so programs can become confused or crash when the date rolls over to the year 2000 and the computer reads it as 00. After studying hundreds of systems installed on Boeing 7-series planes and former McDonnell Douglas models, engineers found only what they described as minor ''nuisance errors'' affecting three flight management and navigation computers installed on some 727, 737, 747, 757 and 767 models. ''None of these affected safety of flight,'' said Walt Orlowski, vice president of engineering programs. Approximately 1,500 planes worldwide could be affected, and most already have updated the necessary software or hardware to correct the problems, Boeing officials said. Boeing jets built before about 1980 are not affected because were not designed with any onboard computers, officials said. Boeing did not study non-standard equipment such as in-flight entertainment systems. Boeing engineers said they initially feared the Y2K problem would affect virtually every computer system on the airplane. ''We assumed the systems would not function,'' said Jim Huffaker, lead engineer with Boeing's Y2K team. In fact, engineers discovered that onboard computer systems rarely have time-sensitive functions beyond recording the date transmitted by a central computer. Onboard navigation systems were the main exception because they are updated every 28 days with the latest information on airports and navigation markers around the world. In one such system installed on many 747, 757 Md 767 models, a computer screen indicates ''Nav data out of date'' when year 2000 information is fed onto the airplane. In another case affecting some older 727, 737 and 747 models, the problem is severe enough that airlines would ground the planes unless it were fixed, Huffaker said. In bulletins sent out last year, Boeing specified software or hardware updates to resolve the problems. The repairs are not mandatory because airlines can choose to validate their data using a separate code number on the in-flight display. Boeing encountered its first Y2K-related problem in 1993, when a computer program crashed trying to order a supply of titanium for delivery in 2000, said Willie Aikens, program manager for Y2K issues. Since then the company has gone through all internal computer systems and intends to be ready for the new year by July 31, he said.