Originally Posted by
mike1968
I think people forget that Apollo was painstakingly developed in house (much like AA's SABRE) to deal with just about anything that could happen in the operations of the free world's largest airline. At some point in the 1990s both UA and AA had to spin them off for 'forced' competitive reasons by the government.
The system was well tested for a global airline the current size, as pre 9/11 UA was just as large, if not larger. To go with a system designed for regional airlines that was already crappy and broken, is just beyond poor leadership. At this point, the smart thing to do would be to phone up Travelport and cut a deal rather than waste another shareholder dollar on this still evolving IT mess.
I simply can't imagine that whatever cost savings these CO cheapskates got by sticking with HP/EDS SHARES has not been far exceeded in the added costs in staffing; increased bills from HP/EDS for endless programming; the utter trashing of the brand across traditional and social media, the inability to run a reliable schedule, etc. etc.
Ultimately, it’s just so sad considering how innovative UA used to be in IT (at least pre 9/11) and the very high bar they used to set on standards. Most of the world's legacy airlines have their eTicket system built on UA’s plans. Doubt anyone in their right mind would want anything from this sinking ship now.
What makes it worse is, the pmUA IT staff told the then CIO that all these problems would exist, yet the decision to stay the course and implement SHARES/pmCO systems. None of this is a surprise to the IT folks who know the airline business and from that perspective. A very large house has been built on a weak and crumbling foundation.
I've said this before, until pmUA IT folks are running the IT Dept and SHARES and it's ancillary systems are disposed of, these problems will persist. Current IT Management apparently does not know what they do not know. I firmly believe Smi/J included. This has gone on too long for him not to be culpable.
Meanwhile customers like me continue to bank TC $'s from the failings of the system. Another $200 this week for something I told the GA I felt guilty taking. Maybe I'll assign these dollars to a Retirement Fund and see how much I end up with. All while UA supposedly pays HP very little for the system. I bet those low HP Service Fee numbers look bad on paper about now if the expense is being fully burdened with all the costs.