Note the statement about testing all the aircraft. It would be to difficult(now I know why only one plane was tested at Denver).

HONG KONG, July 6 (AFP) - Cathay Pacific Airways on Tuesday said its planes and equipment have passed tests against the millennium computer bug and will be ready to fly on New Year's Eve and January 1, 2000. But the airline, which plans to continue operating through the millennium changeover, could not guarantee problems would not arise from those airports and support services which were unprepared as the clock ticks over to the new millennium.

Tony Tyler, Cathay's director of corporate development, admitted the airline is dependent on compliance of third parties, such as airports and air traffic control systems.

He said the Hong Kong-based carrier will be monitoring the compliance levels of airports and other related systems and was prepared to reroute planes and cancel flights if problems occur.

"Cathay Pacific will not be operating if safety will be compromised in anyway. In all circumstances, safety of passengers and crew will be our number one priority," Tyler said.

He declined to say which airports might pose problems.

"It's too early to say which if any airport and air traffic regions we won't be going to," Tyler said. "There's still a significant amount of time before the end of the year to reach compliance."

An analyst for a major investment firm said airports in less developed countries might pose problems for carriers.

"There's a potential for problems with airports and support services in less developed countries," the analyst said. "The more developed countries are doing better than the others."

Tyler said a decision on whether any routes should be cancelled will not be reached until after a special flight scheduling conference is held in mid-October by the International Civil Aviation Association.

As of June 20, Cathay had tested its computer systems and each of the five types of aircrafts it uses and found they could operate normally when the clocks in the equipment switch over to the year 2000.

It tested all of its five aircraft types by turning the clock forward to the millennium changeover date of January 1, 2000 while the plane was airborne.

However, Cathay's Y2K program manager Graham Keddie said not every one of the airline's 57 planes were tested because it was difficult to do so.

The airline began working on achieving Y2K compliance in 1996 and has spent 400 million Hong Kong dollars (52 million US) on the effort so far.

In the next few months, the airline will continue training staff to handle emergency situations, such as a total computer breakdown, and will put contingency plans to the test.

The Y2K bug stems from older systems' inability to distinguish between the year 2000 and 1900, a problem that has the potential to disrupt a wide range of computer-aided economic activity.

-- y2k dave (xsdaa111@hotmail.com), July 07, 1999

Answers

"Tony Tyler, Cathay's director of corporate development admitted the airline is dependent on compliance of third parties, such as airports and air traffic control systems." WELL, no duh! That IS the problem for every other company, industry and government world-wide, isn't it? I'm so sick of the "I been speakin' wit da Lord...he tells me I'll be alright....but he's pretty sure your fawked". Thank you Ko- skin-em for those words of wisdom!

Wake up and smell the coffee America.

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), July 07, 1999.

Pardon et moi.......that should read, "You're fawked".

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), July 07, 1999.

Thanks y2k dave,

Two key points...

"a decision on whether any routes should be cancelled will not be reached until after a special flight scheduling conference is held in mid-October by the International Civil Aviation Association."

"not every one of the airline's 57 planes were tested because it was difficult to do so."

*Sigh*

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), July 07, 1999.

Oh gee Diane, you beat me to it. Those are the key phrases - and I congratulate them on recognizing their impact - publically, saying so this early allows the legal dept a way "out" also if they (the airline) need to cancel any flights later in the year..

Still, I'm surprised they didn't test all aircraft. Hope the ones they didn't test will work.

-- Robert A. Cook, PE (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), July 07, 1999.