Obvious News: Airlines Have Problems
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As can be expected, airlines have problems, especially computer problems. In this case, something caused over 1000 flights to be cancelled.
The airlines, I must point out, are encountering these problems because of their earlier idiocy. In the late 1990's, at least one airline was told by an expert hired as a consultant (my very own dad, to be exact) that they needed to cut the salaries of everyone earning more than $20,000 by 10% and to stop buying new equipment. The consultant knew that the airlines had a capacity that was greater than the number of people who would fly on airplanes, because air travel had stabilized over the earlier years (it increased slightly with population). Thus, the airlines were making more expenses than necessary, and they would not collect the income they expected to collect. The airline, however, in an effort to look good to investors and increase stock price, gave everyone a 35% raise and bought tons of new equipment.
Nowadays, those airlines are paying millions of dollars to maintain the equipment that they shouldn't have been purchased, and they are dismissing the employees that didn't need to be hired, and they are cutting the salaries that shouldn't have been increased in the first place.
While the airlines were buying new airplanes, they were not upgrading their computer systems, which they should have been upgrading. Airlines need to realize that customers don't want to carry around a large paper ticket, which is expensive and easy to lose, but rather that they want much of the information on the ticket to be stored in a computer network, if not all the information. The paper ticket should have all the information that the customer wants to know, like the gate where the airplane is, flight date and time, seat location, meal/movie information, and also include some identification information (the passenger's name and some tracking number for the ticket). The computer network should have the same information, as well as everything the airline needs to know, so that the ticket can easily be reprinted if it's lost and the lost ticket can be invalidated.
That type of thing should not be difficult with the help of a modern computer network. In fact, it would probably be easier, faster, and a bit more secure, all while making things easier for the customer (not to mention airline employees who deal with customers who have ticket problems).
Having all the tickets stored on a computer network will make it easier to coordinate all flights through the same computer network.
As can be expected, airlines have problems, especially computer problems. In this case, something caused over 1000 flights to be cancelled.
The airlines, I must point out, are encountering these problems because of their earlier idiocy. In the late 1990's, at least one airline was told by an expert hired as a consultant (my very own dad, to be exact) that they needed to cut the salaries of everyone earning more than $20,000 by 10% and to stop buying new equipment. The consultant knew that the airlines had a capacity that was greater than the number of people who would fly on airplanes, because air travel had stabilized over the earlier years (it increased slightly with population). Thus, the airlines were making more expenses than necessary, and they would not collect the income they expected to collect. The airline, however, in an effort to look good to investors and increase stock price, gave everyone a 35% raise and bought tons of new equipment.
Nowadays, those airlines are paying millions of dollars to maintain the equipment that they shouldn't have been purchased, and they are dismissing the employees that didn't need to be hired, and they are cutting the salaries that shouldn't have been increased in the first place.
While the airlines were buying new airplanes, they were not upgrading their computer systems, which they should have been upgrading. Airlines need to realize that customers don't want to carry around a large paper ticket, which is expensive and easy to lose, but rather that they want much of the information on the ticket to be stored in a computer network, if not all the information. The paper ticket should have all the information that the customer wants to know, like the gate where the airplane is, flight date and time, seat location, meal/movie information, and also include some identification information (the passenger's name and some tracking number for the ticket). The computer network should have the same information, as well as everything the airline needs to know, so that the ticket can easily be reprinted if it's lost and the lost ticket can be invalidated.
That type of thing should not be difficult with the help of a modern computer network. In fact, it would probably be easier, faster, and a bit more secure, all while making things easier for the customer (not to mention airline employees who deal with customers who have ticket problems).
Having all the tickets stored on a computer network will make it easier to coordinate all flights through the same computer network.
posted by Chris at
1:49 PM
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