mirage47

This is probably why my UA.com booked flight this week now shows up as a CO flight with operated by UA. Sadly there is no indicator for UDU like pending or wait listed for my flight Wed. Called 1P line and they tell me I booked on CO, I say nope, never booked on CO in my life, your changeover messing with UA bookings. She says that I am on the UG list for CO. Too bad I do not have any status on CO until after the changeover. Very strange and frustrating!

rob_flies_ua

Um, if you have your UA account number listed, then you do have status on CO. You could even link your UA account and your CO account so that you would have CO status (if you wanted to put your CO account number on the flight).

bmvaughn

I have a few issues with this thread... first it's supposed to be a list of changes, but it's only on the negative side, nothing positive - surely there must be positives that are gained from moving to this system (other than just cost).

Second, the list of issues noted in the OP are not specific enough to understand if they are a system limitation or an airline policy. It's possible that system limitations could be resolved with the changeover, it could also be an upgrade point. It's also possible that policies could be reviewed/changed.

I understand this is a list of "expected changes", so tough for any of us to know what the actual post-changeover system will look like without inside knowledge. Due to this, it's imperative to emphasize that most of the items are based on speculation and not fact. Or it may even be better to highlight this is current-state CO compared to current-state UA rather than to portray it as future state UA.

SFflyer123

Anybody have a quick answer to this or a link that explains this?

FortFun

emanon256

Please correct me if I am wrong, I am sure many of you know more about this than I do. I got this info from a job I interviewed for with UA about year back, which involved merging the CO and US systems. I withdrew my application as they had no time line as to when the job would start, or how long the job would last, and I had another client with a fixed start date.

Basically SHARES is a fight management system running on a mainframe using IBM DBMS software developed in 1983. The system has been modified to the point it is no longer supported, so all development and testing must be done in house. SHARES has a user interface, which they have enhanced far beyond what the delivered Green Screen can do, however it does not operate off of any real time database triggers, requires a lot of manual work, and any process/jobs must be scheduled and run on the mainframe during certain maintenance windows.

Most carriers are now using ERP systems, which are running on modern servers, not mainframes, and do not require the system to be borough down for processing windows, and do not require everything to be done by jobs submitted on the ever. Modern ERP systems can manage costumer information and update accounts in real time based on triggers. Several ERPs still use jobs and job sets to schedule certain batches as too many real time processes can effect system performance.

I am under the impression that PMUA uses a modern ERP system, however significant licensing fees are paid to be abel to use this system, while SHARES is no longer supported, and thus has no licensing fees.

Again, this is what I gathered from interviewing with them, they could have been feeding me BS, they may not have been. They never told me any of this information is confidential, so there ya go.

joel67

You interviewed with them? Perhaps their programmer is nearing retirement age.

emanon256

LOL

They were looking for some independent consultants with experience in linking mainframes to ERP systems, but they didn't seem to know what exactly they wanted or when they wanted it.

halls120

Maybe it's because the changes we've heard about are perceived as negative from the customer POV. I don't see anyone stopping someone else from weighing in with the positive aspects of adopting SHARES. If there are any, I'd be interested in knowing what they are.

bmvaughn

I'm confused... we've heard confirmation of changes from a customer POV? I thought this was just a listing of the differences between PMUA and PMCO systems and policies, but if there are actually confirmed changes I'd love to hear them!

Sprezzatura

At this point we don't have much (if any) hard info about what the system will or will not do once the cutover happens. Hence the rampant speculation.

Based on what we do know, there's a widely-shared assumption among PMUA FTers that the changes will not be for the better. It would be great if we could get some actual info sooner rather than later.

Joshua

Confirmed that award tickets can't be booked at a ticket counter after conversion to SHARES.

For what it's worth, the GUI based front-end to SHARES that US Airways uses seems to work pretty nicely. In my opinion, integrating the two systems before this is ready is a mistake.

On the other hand, UA agents will gain faster typing skills--I swear some of the CO agents are cranking out 100 WPM when they're using SHARES.

UA-NYC

Barring new developments, I think it's fair to assume that PMCO systems & policies listed by channa are what we'll be dealing with come March changeover. We can all hope they'll improve over time, but this is what we'll most likely be stuck with - only smart practice to familiarize oneself with the limitations/changes - I've learned all about the joy of WL'd upgrades, EUA, etc.

Resounding silence on positive changes/aspects of SHARES - ability to have travel credits online is great, but not familiar with anything besides that.

mirage47

I set up a CO acct and then linked them about a month ago, so that is not an issue I don't think. My issue is that I booked on UA.com and it shows with a booking on CO. When I log into my CO acct, no status. When I view this itinerary on CO, no mirage47 on the upgrade list. Never had a problem on UA itins in the past and always showed up as pending or waitlisted. Just shows me the troubles they are having with combining systems and members. I suspect this is the same for other low tier elites when booking on .com(1P is now pretty low on the combined airline). Just my 2 cents as I rarely get ug'd out of ORD anyway. Rant over

linsj

I find the OP's post downright scary. I decided to wait and see how the merger shakes out; but if this becomes our new reality, it will push me to a new airline.