Either a Sabre or a FOS Outage shuts down AA

[eolesen]

Accomplishing what AA's unions were incapable of doing...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- A key computer system for American Airlines isn't working, the airline said on its Twitter account Tuesday. The reservation and booking tool known as Sabre is offline, and is the same system that tracks the weight and balance of the aircraft. That appears to have led to many delays, based on conversation the airline is having with customers on Twitter. A spokesman wasn't immediately available to comment.

AA started the process to replace Sabre & the W&B platform a decade ago.

The only component they've managed to actually replace was the flight dispatching system, and I'm not sure that's fully in place yet...

 

[AA-MRO.COM]

Its called Karma

 

[ContUNITEus]

So does that mean that Horton gets fired as a result?

 

[AANOTOK]

Accomplishing what AA's unions were incapable of doing...

That smirk is eerily similar to yours!

 

[UPNAWAY]

[sub]On Flyer Talk the AA VFFers are saying this has been happing fairly regualarly in the last year.[/sub]

 

[eolesen]

[sub]On Flyer Talk the AA VFFers are saying this has been happing fairly regualarly in the last year.[/sub]

Yep, and that's going to happen when you continue to use mainframe technology developed in the 60's as your most critical system...

There are several alternatives using new architectures. AA would have already been up and running on another system had they not elected to go after the HP "We Can Build Anything For A Fee" approach...

 

[spectator]

There are plenty of airlines in the world who still successfully use mainframe based res systems.

About 1/4 of the operation is cancelled so far today - and growing.

 

[spectator]

so what does this message mean? what was the problem? Sabre indicates it was AA's responsibility and AA solved it.

SOUTHLAKE, Texas, April 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- American Airlines mistakenly reported they were having an issue with the Sabre reservations system, which they subsequently corrected. To clarify, all Sabre systems are operating as normal and have been all day. We see American Airlines is now up and running. We stand ready to help if needed.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/sabre-statement-regarding-american-airlines-221000904.html

 

[Bogey]

Accomplishing what AA's unions were incapable of doing...




AA started the process to replace Sabre & the W&B platform a decade ago.

The only component they've managed to actually replace was the flight dispatching system, and I'm not sure that's fully in place yet...

They have not replaced any of the flight dispatching system. They have been developing a system with Jeppesen, but it's a way from being in place. Merger may change or further delay those plans.

 

[eolesen]

There are plenty of airlines in the world who still successfully use mainframe based res systems.

Sure there are. And it's a number I'm actively working to shrink.

Right now, it's about an even split -- half the PB's and half the airlines are on new technology platforms, and the rest are on mainframes.

When you take it down to network carriers only, mainframes still rule at 55%. Amongst LCC's, it's 5%. Hybrids, it's 50/50 again.

They have not replaced any of the flight dispatching system. They have been developing a system with Jeppesen, but it's a way from being in place.

When I was last at SOC about a year ago, they had Jeppesen running in parallel on at least one desk. That's the norm when the FAA has to sign off on a system upgrade. Some systems they want two years of parallel testing.

 

[Bogey]

We are not parallel testing the system. They may have had the current iteration running on a set, but that's all. One time thing. We/me are not using it at all and we haven't been testing it on our desks.

 

[Glenn Quagmire]

We are not parallel testing the system. They may have had the current iteration running on a set, but that's all. One time thing. We/me are not using it at all and we haven't been testing it on our desks.

Thank you for the real time info Bogey. Please keep us updated.

 

[mistified]

This would never have happened at Delta Airlines!

 

[1AA]

AA spends millions on consultants, lawyers, new uniforms, new a/c orders, new paint jobs, sports complexes, Horton's bonus and yet did nothing to improve the reliability of SABRE.

Welcome to the NEW AMERICAN.
So what is so new about the NEW AMERICAN?
Same old problems with a fresh coat of paint.
Yup thats the ticket. Who are they foolin?

 

[FWAAA]

On Flyer Talk the AA VFFers are saying this has been happing fairly regualarly in the last year.

No, that's not what they're saying. Some UA frequent flyers are saying that it's been a frequent occurence at UA over the past year (and even before that).

Here is a thread where UA FFs applaud Horton's apology (they wish Smisek knew how to say "I'm sorry" and mean it):

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-mileageplus-consolidated/1459057-i-vote-tom-horton-new-ua-president.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-mileageplus-consolidated/1341286-ua-versus-aa-observations-things-consider-before-leaving-23.html (beginning with post #894)

Here is a thread from the AA forum with no mention that IT outages have been a problem over the past year:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-aadvantage/1458902-16-apr-2013-aa-computers-down-systemwide-many-flights-etc-affected.html