Tale of Two Airlines

[SparrowHawk]

United Airlines' computer switchover appears smooth [Chicago Tribune]


March 03--United Airlines' conversion to a new computer reservation system went off without a major hitch Saturday morning, as the Continental Airlines name faded into history.
"The conversion is proceeding according to plan," said United spokesman Rahsaan Johnson. "The system cutover is going well, and we have been online since about 3:15 a.m."

The cutover was a perilous undertaking because other airlines that made similar conversions have experienced glitches that led to major hassles for travelers. The airline is still in the process of fully integrating account balances for frequent flier accounts, and that could "take a couple of days," Johnson said.

The airline has also been experiencing higher than normal call volume for several days, Johnson said. A notice on the United website said the call volumes were "extraordinarily high" and some hold times exceeded an hour. "We have additional staffing in our reservations centers to respond to address this," he said.

With the cutover, Continental -- including the website Continental.com -- ceased to exist. Web surfers on Saturday were automatically redirected to United.com.

United and Continental airlines merged in 2010 but have been integrating operations since. The cutover, and the disappearance of the Continental name, was among the most significant changes that customers would have noticed.

bout 75.5 percent of United's mainline flights were on time -- arriving within 14 minutes of their scheduled slot -- on Sunday morning, as were about 87.1 percent of its Express flights, according to McCarthy. "Employees are working hard to take care of our customers," she said.

Migration to a single reservation system comes with risks, as US Airways learned in 2007 when it attempted to combine the reservation systems of the former America West Airlines and US Airways. The two airlines merged in 2005.

A problem in combining that system caused self-service kiosks to fail. Thousands of passengers had to wait and about 500 at the Charlotte, North Carolina hub missed flights.

Delta Air Lines had a much smoother transition to a single reservation system following its 2008 merger with Northwest Airlines.

USAirways switched over to a new computer reservation system last week, combining its system with America West’s on a new platform. It was a bumpy transition, at least if you were a passenger. USAir's president called it “largely successful” as passengers waited in 3-hour lines and more than half USAir’s flights arrived late.

I find it interesting that two airlines that were larger as stand alone carriers than either HP or US switched to SHARES with far fewer issues in less time. Further proof that the Tempe Frat Boys couldn't organize a one car funeral

Dougie's Got His PBR (With apologies to the late Gil Scott Heron)

The kiosk don't work for my sister Nell.
(But Dougie's Got His PBR )
Her face turned red with rage.
(But Dougie's Got His PBR)
I can't pay change fees for this.
(But Dougie's Got His PBR)
Months from then customers complaining still.
(But Dougie's Got His PBR)

The relative success of the DL/NW, CO/UA and the debacle at US Airways one can only conclude that US is not as nearly as well managed as they think they are. Hell, little bitty NK earned more in 2011 then US did on a percentage basis and nearly beat them dollar for dollar despite being one tenth of US's size. To think that a 40 (soon to be 80) airline run by those US East "Bozo's" could pay their pilots more and earn more money. How can Parker look the board in the eye.

 

[Dog Wonder]

Dragging Gil Scott Heron in again?

He dealt with more important things than your petty vendettas.

And besides, Scott Kirby said the US Shares conversion was a 'resounding success'.

 

[USFlyer]

Well, to say there were no issues with the UA-CO system conversion would be a fallacy. From what I've heard, UA had similar kiosk issues like US had. The difference was UA seemed to have a lot more staff on standby at the airports to handle things. Things seem to be operating normally now, though, just like with US after 24-48 hours.

 

[SparrowHawk]

Well, to say there were no issues with the UA-CO system conversion would be a fallacy. From what I've heard, UA had similar kiosk issues like US had. The difference was UA seemed to have a lot more staff on standby at the airports to handle things. Things seem to be operating normally now, though, just like with US after 24-48 hours.

I looked into the UA conversion and as near as I could tell the transition went well. The kiosk/FF issues pale when compared to the lines at CLT, PHL and elsewhere. It's called Management both from a planning perspective and as things unfold.

Want to bet you don't hear any reports of lines in ORD. IAD and elsewhere tomorrow?

 

[SS255]

I've known about the 3/3 system cutover date, and I wisely chose not to fly UA/CO again until 3/16. Both CO and UA posted alerts on their websites, notifying customers how to prepare if they wd ere flying this weekend. They had a ton of extra staff on hand to work through the kinks.

From the reports i have read on Flyertalk, it seems as if most of the problems were not show-stoppers (like US's kiosk failures on a mass level). Things took a bit longer than normal, and the lines were long, but it was anything but an unmitigated disaster. Most of the problems reported were of people getting booted out of the seat assignments which they have had for weeks or months, upgrades clearing out of sequence, and boarding passes which were printed prior to the cutover having to get re-printed at the gate. Apparently UA gave 3,500 miles to affected passengers as a "goodwill gesture," although, again, there have been reports of only some people receiving the 3,500 miles, so, as they say on Flyertalk, "YMMV."

I still stand by my wise decision to stay home this weekend, but all in all, the migration went as well as can be expected, and a lot of the reported issues have already been resolved.

 

[700UW]

Belongs on a UA thread, and there are plenty of articles showing the exact opposite.

story

Another

And their Kiosks failed too.

Reuters

United Airlines battled service problems including flight delays, faulty kiosks and jammed phone lines this weekend as it worked through technical glitches during its combination of the United and Continental Airlines reservation systems.

WSJ

 

[SparrowHawk]

Take note of the following operational stats and then recall that US was below 50% on time for how long?

75.5 percent of United's mainline flights were on time -- arriving within 14 minutes of their scheduled slot -- on Sunday morning, as were about 87.1 percent of its Express flights, according to McCarthy. "Employees are working hard to take care of our customers,"

Kiosk failures seem to be far fewer and less lengthy.


The proof will come today when the business travelers hit the system. So far it looks like one airline has had a relatively smooth transition compared to the US debacle of 2007

 

[LD3]

Dougie's Got His PBR (With apologies to the late Gil Scott Heron)

(But Dougie's Got His PBR )
(But Dougie's Got His PBR)
(But Dougie's Got His PBR)
(But Dougie's Got His PBR)

Getting old...

Belongs on a UA thread, and there are plenty of articles showing the exact opposite.

OP has an unhealthy obsession with US....

 

[ChockJockey]

I find it interesting that two airlines that were larger as stand alone carriers than either HP or US switched to SHARES with far fewer issues in less time. Further proof that the Tempe Frat Boys couldn't organize a one car funeral

Those airlines would have certainly been watching the US switchover and learned what not to do, especially so with UA which after five years was following a beaten path. It wouldn't have been the only aspect of a merger they'd have learned from, pilot integration anyone? A one-car funeral must be a lot more complex than running the 5th largest airline in the US, because they seem to be doing it well enough.

The relative success of the DL/NW, CO/UA and the debacle at US Airways one can only conclude that US is not as nearly as well managed as they think they are.

Yes, that's the "only" possible thing one could ever conclude from these events. That's the most valuable lesson to be learned from all this.

Hell, little bitty NK earned more in 2011 then US did on a percentage basis and nearly beat them dollar for dollar despite being one tenth of US's size. To think that a 40 (soon to be 80) airline run by those US East "Bozo's" could pay their pilots more and earn more money. How can Parker look the board in the eye.

Well...I'd imagine there's some eye contact when they're giving him all those gobs of money. It'd be kind of awkward if he didn't, probably. Parker is not responsible for what our pilots are making; they could have been much better compensated by now but they decided to take another route, and the difference between what they could be making and what they make now is simply the price of their stubbornness.

As long as Parker and Kirby run this airline you will want to see it fail. Do you dream about Doug Parker when you sleep at night?

 

[BoeingBoy]

"It doesn't look like it's a major meltdown. It looks like a glitch," said Boyd

“Barring an absolute meltdown, the electronic side has gone as well as expected,” Brancatelli told msnbc.com. “In fairness, I don’t see the gigantic problems we’ve seen with other cutovers.”

Recent history is littered with cutovers that didn’t go quite as planned. Perhaps the most infamous snafu took place in 2007 when US Airways tried to integrate the systems of merger partner America West. The result? Out-of-order kiosks, long lines, flight delays and lots of inconvenienced and angry customers.


Thanks for the articles 700 - according to them it seems to have gone pretty well compared to US...

Jim

 

[ChockJockey]

Perhaps the most infamous snafu took place in 2007 when US Airways tried to integrate the systems of merger partner America West. The result? Out-of-order kiosks, long lines, flight delays and lots of inconvenienced and angry customers.

Indeed. We must never forget, and must never let management live down the loss of all the brave comrades we suffered in the '07 switchover. US Airways was the Exxon Valdez and Parker was the drunkard at the helm. Because Doug Parker has a drinking problem, and it never gets old to hear about.

 

[BoeingBoy]

Indeed.

Blame 700 - he's the one that tried to make the UA switchover look as bad as the US switchover. Besides, even the mighty Parker (who can do no wrong in the eyes of some) should admit mistakes and that 2007 changeover of res systems was a big one...

Jim

 

[Art at ISP]

Can we not have one thread without people bickering and attacking each other?

Bottom line here. It was not as smooth as the original article indicated, but it went much better than the US cutover did.

It's too early to tell how long there will be residual fallout from this one but the mess created by the US cutover was resolved in weeks not days. Is this a result of better planning? Knowing the history of the companies involved, probably, but time will be the final judge.

To be fair, it has been said that there should have been better training of the agents in the new system ahead of time, but this may be all there was time for.

So why don't you lay off each other and lets see how this shakes out...and let's contain the bickering and fighting to the pilots' thread.

My best to you all.......

 

[USFlyer]

UA also spoke to and received consultation from US, per one of the articles I read. These types of system conversions, especially on systems that have to be up 24/7/365 are always tough. I was happy to see UA did four dry runs, reduced their Saturday morning scheduled flights and increased staff. UA also posted a lot of updates and forewarned travelers.

At any rate, the major issues seem resolved. There will likely be lingering issues until the converted reservations work their way out of the system over the next few weeks and months.

 

[SparrowHawk]

UA also spoke to and received consultation from US, per one of the articles I read. These types of system conversions, especially on systems that have to be up 24/7/365 are always tough. I was happy to see UA did four dry runs, reduced their Saturday morning scheduled flights and increased staff. UA also posted a lot of updates and forewarned travelers.

At any rate, the major issues seem resolved. There will likely be lingering issues until the converted reservations work their way out of the system over the next few weeks and months.

Anybody notice the lack of media coverage of the UA/CO system conversion this week? No pictures of lines at hubs that extended outside the terminal? No Blog horror stories? Like I said a tale of two airline Management Teams. One that can actually operate an airline versus a room full of spread sheet jockey's.

Imagine what would happen at US if in the middle of the might some disabled MS Excel on ALL workstations?