Bloomberg: United Said to Struggle With Computer Switch
Jan 10, 2014, 1:09 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Shared Troll
Programs: The Marina. Comic Relief. UA 1K and 1MM. MacBook Pro.
Posts: 1,913
Bloomberg: United Said to Struggle With Computer Switch
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-0...tml?cmpid=yhoo
And ...
United Airlines (UAL) is suffering a computer system malfunction that stranded pilots and caused canceled flights, evidence the company is still struggling to integrate Continental Airlines more than three years after the merger closed, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The breakdown contributed to the scrapping of almost 1,500 flights as the airline also grappled with unseasonably cold weather, said the people -- five United employees who were not authorized to speak publicly about the issue. United’s crew desk lost track of hundreds of pilots around the world since Dec. 30 as the system erroneously reported which pilots would control specific flights, the employees said.
The breakdown contributed to the scrapping of almost 1,500 flights as the airline also grappled with unseasonably cold weather, said the people -- five United employees who were not authorized to speak publicly about the issue. United’s crew desk lost track of hundreds of pilots around the world since Dec. 30 as the system erroneously reported which pilots would control specific flights, the employees said.
Merging complicated computer systems has been a challenge for United, especially when the shift has been to smaller Continental’s technology platforms.
The airline suffered flight delays, long check-in lines and problems with check-in kiosks in March 2012 after the Apollo passenger reservations system from the old United was switched over to Continental’s Shares program.
The airline suffered flight delays, long check-in lines and problems with check-in kiosks in March 2012 after the Apollo passenger reservations system from the old United was switched over to Continental’s Shares program.
Jan 10, 2014, 1:18 pm
#2
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: What I write is my opinion alone..don't read into it anything not written.
Posts: 9,687
It sure has been difficult. Pay raises negotiated for 1Nov2013 have not gone into effect yet for IAM (res/CS/ramp/mp) represented employees. They are having trouble making the payroll system apply a simple table. 2.5 months later, they think the end is in sight, and by the end of the month, they may have things worked out.
So it isn't just 1 or 2 systems, that they are not getting up to speed quickly, when it impacts pay rates from a simple table, you know they have issues.
In the meantime, we make due with what we have and make the best of it.
So it isn't just 1 or 2 systems, that they are not getting up to speed quickly, when it impacts pay rates from a simple table, you know they have issues.
In the meantime, we make due with what we have and make the best of it.
Jan 10, 2014, 1:35 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: DAY
Programs: UA 1K 1MM; Marriott LT Titanium; Amex MR; Chase UR; Hertz PC; Global Entry
Posts: 10,209
Wow. Guess it shouldn't be a surprise that the back office stuff is just as clunky as the customer facing stuff.
I really enjoyed this quote from the article.
Reliable at under 80%
I really enjoyed this quote from the article.
Our teams performance year-to-date demonstrates that our operations are once again stable and reliable, Chief Executive Officer Jeff Smisek said on an Oct. 24 conference call, after 78.9 percent of Uniteds arrivals for the third quarter were on-time.
Jan 10, 2014, 1:42 pm
#4
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: What I write is my opinion alone..don't read into it anything not written.
Posts: 9,687
To be fair, a plane late by 15 min is not necessarily "unreliable". In many industries, a failure means the thing doesn't work. You choose to use a metric defined by the DoT that doesn't imply "broken" only "late by greater than 0:14 min". Given some of the variables that are outside of any airline's control in the U.S., a 6 sigma success rate isn't ever going to happen...for anyone, not even in a microcosm such as HA.
Jan 10, 2014, 1:47 pm
#5
Join Date: May 2005
Programs: Million Miler, 1K - Basically spend a lot of time on planes
Posts: 2,202
Pay raises negotiated for 1Nov2013 have not gone into effect yet for IAM (res/CS/ramp/mp) represented employees. They are having trouble making the payroll system apply a simple table. 2.5 months later, they think the end is in sight, and by the end of the month, they may have things worked out.
Jan 10, 2014, 2:28 pm
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Northern Calif./Eastern Ida.
Programs: Amethyst Premier Plutonium Medallion
Posts: 20,686
Jan 10, 2014, 2:38 pm
#7
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Nashville, TN
Programs: Marriott Lifetime Titanium.;UA 1.5MM; UA Lifetime Gold (whoppee); DL Plat
Posts: 2,124
"Flights were even assigned to pilots who are retired or deceased. " Thank god I wasn't on that flight
time to call in Bill Gates and bring Steve Jobs back from the dead!
time to call in Bill Gates and bring Steve Jobs back from the dead!
Jan 10, 2014, 2:45 pm
#8
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: DAY
Programs: UA 1K 1MM; Marriott LT Titanium; Amex MR; Chase UR; Hertz PC; Global Entry
Posts: 10,209
To be fair, a plane late by 15 min is not necessarily "unreliable". In many industries, a failure means the thing doesn't work. You choose to use a metric defined by the DoT that doesn't imply "broken" only "late by greater than 0:14 min". Given some of the variables that are outside of any airline's control in the U.S., a 6 sigma success rate isn't ever going to happen...for anyone, not even in a microcosm such as HA.
Doesn't exactly conjure up images of "stable" and "reliable".
Jan 10, 2014, 2:49 pm
#9
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: ORD-LAS
Programs: UA MM 1K, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium Elite
Posts: 4,419
To be fair, a plane late by 15 min is not necessarily "unreliable". In many industries, a failure means the thing doesn't work. You choose to use a metric defined by the DoT that doesn't imply "broken" only "late by greater than 0:14 min". Given some of the variables that are outside of any airline's control in the U.S., a 6 sigma success rate isn't ever going to happen...for anyone, not even in a microcosm such as HA.
Jan 10, 2014, 2:50 pm
#10
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Las Vegas
Programs: DL Platinum, AA Lifetime Gold, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum, Radisson Premium
Posts: 6,639
Guess they should have switched to the bigger airline's computer systems huh?
It's pretty ridiculous that at the 2-year mark, they're still having problems.
It's pretty ridiculous that at the 2-year mark, they're still having problems.
Jan 10, 2014, 2:56 pm
#11
Join Date: Mar 2012
Programs: Mileage Plus 1K; Marriott Platinum; Hilton Gold
Posts: 6,355
The way things are going, UA will enhance itself down to a size that fits the smaller CO technology platforms before too long.
Jan 10, 2014, 3:12 pm
#12
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: What I write is my opinion alone..don't read into it anything not written.
Posts: 9,687
So maybe the mode is 1 hour, but to publish a schedule around that would be a foolish thing to do. "padding" it 10 min would make the delayed flights less delayed, the on time flights early, and more realistic connections can be planned.
It isn't "padding", it's building a workable schedule. This isn't a point to point network, but a hub and spoke, and connections are what dries the traffic in most cases. To scheuld around a mode instead of a mean or median would cause far more misconnects, unless the MCT is increased, and for flights that have a rather reliable schedule, increasing the MCT would only add needlessly to journey time.
Jan 10, 2014, 3:35 pm
#13
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: LAX
Programs: UA1K, HH Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 212
This makes perfect sense as I can only imagine that the collective bargaining agreement calls for much lower wages for deceased pilots. This is clearly an efficiency initiative by a go-getter in middle management. Fits well with the culture of SMI/J.
Jan 10, 2014, 3:47 pm
#14
Join Date: Dec 2011
Posts: 1,185
As fastair said, it's not just this system. It's multiple, including the payroll. 3+ years into the merger and they are still having issues with payroll. What have they been doing for 3 years?
United is one big struggle right now. It's part of the culture.
United is one big struggle right now. It's part of the culture.
Jan 10, 2014, 4:04 pm
#15
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: GVA (Greater Vancouver Area)
Programs: DREAD Gold; UA 1.035MM; Bonvoy Au-197; PCC Elite+; CCC Elite+; MSC C-12; CWC Au-197; WoH Dis
Posts: 52,182
Regarding "padding", I've seen much of the opposite where United schedules unrealistic turnarounds. Vancouver is one airport where this is particularly true, and results in frequent delays.