Tuesday, August 10, 1999 Published at 10:37 GMT 11:37 UK

Special Report

Airline 'grounded' for New Year

'No demand' for flights

The budget airline Ryanair will not be flying over the New Year.

The Irish company is joining Virgin Atlantic, the Polish carrier LOT and some other airlines in grounding its fleet on the night of 31 December.

But Ryanair insists the decision has been taken due to lack of demand for flights from passengers not because of fear of the Millennium Bug.

Aircraft 'Millennium-proof'

A spokesman said that Ryanair's fleet of Boeing 737 jets did not have date-dependent microchips or computer programmes of the type causing concern due to the bug.

He added that it was normal practice for them to halt operations overnight on New Year's Eve.

Scheduled flights will stop at 4pm on 31 December and resume at noon on New Year's Day.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), August 26, 1999

Answers

They all say that - no demand my ass... they are in CYA mode...

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), August 26, 1999.

Seriously, how many people are going to WANT To fly on January 1st 2000? Even if you discount Y2K anxieties? Precious few, methinks. If things are "normal" most beople will be at a party until they drop, then recovering for the rest of the day.

To get staff in on that day, an airline would have to pay triple time or more. Are they likely to do that for one-third of the usual passenger load? Especially a budget airline like Ryanair, who can't make a profit on a one-third full plane even at normal rates of staff pay?

THis is one case where normal business sense arrives at a decision to shut down over Y2K, regardless of any consideration of possible disruptions. As such it's a useless datum.

-- Nigel Arnot (nra@maxwell.ph.kcl.ac.uk), August 27, 1999.

I posted this article more because it's another confirmation that Virgin, the Polish national airline "and some other airlines" are also closing for that date, an issue that has been discussed several times on this forum.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), August 27, 1999.

Thank you Old Git, and thank you Nigel.

Andy, be nice.

Jerry

P.S. Andy, it seems that you now reside in or near Denver. If so, and if you enjoy scenic sights, you might enjoy a drive west on I-70, perhaps with side trips up to Mt Evans, and Loveland Pass. (Preferably in a vehicle with manual transmission and good brakes).

-- Jerry B (skeptic76@erols.com), August 27, 1999.

Y2K - Qantas Pilots Will Refuse New Year's Asia Flights By David Legard Singapore Correspondent 8-28-99 SINGAPORE (IDG) -- Pilots with Australia,s national airline Qantas Airways will deliberately report in sick over the New Year period rather than fly international routes covered by potentially noncompliant air traffic control (ATC) operations, a senior Qantas captain said. The captain, who declined to be identified, told the IDG News Service that other pilots are happy with Qantas, own preparations for the year 2000 (Y2K) problem and are prepared to fly routes within Australia, but that routes via Asia to Europe pass through several sectors in which pilots have no confidence in the year-2000 preparations of ATC operators. Particularly hazardous sectors include Indonesia, India and the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which Europe- bound flights overfly, according to the Qantas captain. "I was recently flying over one of these countries when the local ATC operator called me, and along with his voice, I could hear a rooster crowing in the background. Until then, I had imagined them as working from a high-tech air-conditioned office," he said. Qantas, which has never suffered a fatal accident in its 65-year international flying history, has no official plans to suspend flights over the millennium period, but said in a statement in March that it "may vary its flying patterns if it considers that the integrity of any airspace zone, ATC system, or airport" does not meet its operational requirements. Singapore Airlines said recently that it will "not operate any service where safety is in doubt" due to year 2000 ATC shortcomings in the region. The airline is working closely with international aviation organizations to gather information on the state of readiness of airports and ATC systems and will announce more details in early October of any service curbs, it said. Vietnam Airlines has said it will not fly over the millennium changeover period and Indonesian airline Garuda has indicated it will probably also not fly then. The year 2000 problem is caused by computer systems or programs which use a two-digit date field instead of a four-digit date field. Such systems do not know whether "00" means 1900 or 2000, possibly causing them to malfunction or shut down on Jan. 1, 2000. David Legard is Singapore correspondent for the IDG News Service.

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), August 28, 1999.

Let me try that again!

Sorry Jerry but all the Airlines are falling like dominoes, and I distinctly remember earlier this year hoff and flint saying Virgin was a flash in the pan...

thanks for the tip on loveland - i'll get round tuit one day :)

Y2K - Qantas Pilots Will Refuse New Year's Asia Flights

By David Legard Singapore Correspondent 8-28-99

SINGAPORE (IDG) -- Pilots with Australia,s national airline Qantas Airways will deliberately report in sick over the New Year period rather than fly international routes covered by potentially noncompliant air traffic control (ATC) operations, a senior Qantas captain said.

The captain, who declined to be identified, told the IDG News Service that other pilots are happy with Qantas, own preparations for the year 2000 (Y2K) problem and are prepared to fly routes within Australia, but that routes via Asia to Europe pass through several sectors in which pilots have no confidence in the year-2000 preparations of ATC operators.

Particularly hazardous sectors include Indonesia, India and the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which Europe- bound flights overfly, according to the Qantas captain.

"I was recently flying over one of these countries when the local ATC operator called me, and along with his voice, I could hear a rooster crowing in the background. Until then, I had imagined them as working from a high-tech air-conditioned office," he said.

Qantas, which has never suffered a fatal accident in its 65-year international flying history, has no official plans to suspend flights over the millennium period, but said in a statement in March that it "may vary its flying patterns if it considers that the integrity of any airspace zone, ATC system, or airport" does not meet its operational requirements.

Singapore Airlines said recently that it will "not operate any service where safety is in doubt" due to year 2000 ATC shortcomings in the region. The airline is working closely with international aviation organizations to gather information on the state of readiness of airports and ATC systems and will announce more details in early October of any service curbs, it said.

Vietnam Airlines has said it will not fly over the millennium changeover period and Indonesian airline Garuda has indicated it will probably also not fly then.

The year 2000 problem is caused by computer systems or programs which use a two-digit date field instead of a four-digit date field. Such systems do not know whether "00" means 1900 or 2000, possibly causing them to malfunction or shut down on Jan. 1, 2000.

David Legard is Singapore correspondent for the IDG News Service.

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), August 28, 1999.

Andy,

I prefer driving to flying anyhow. :-)

BTW, that's Loveland Pass, near the I-70 Eisenhower tunnel, not the town of Loveland which is up north. The nice part about Mt Evans is that you can drive your vehicle up to about 14,000 feet above sea level. Great views if the weather is clear. (And bring some yummies for the mountain goats, and a warm jacket for yourself.)

Jerry

-- Jerry B (skeptic76@erols.com), August 28, 1999.