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Comair

Deborah of Marina del Rey CA (12/31/04):
I am one of thousands who was stranded as a result of the Comair/Delta fiasco. I believe Comair had knowledge or should have had knowledge of such potential system failure.

I believe investigation will show (1) an old system that is no longer supported by software manufacturer, or if internally developed, based on old language with limited in-house expertise, (2) numerous 'fixes' per review of system change control log, probably including a recent fix that triggered this disaster, (3) plans for a new implementation, probably postponed for financial reasons, and (4) corroboration by employees on instability of system. Based on these factors comair should have known and taken action to prevent such a problem.

Delta is equally at fault as their agreement with Comair should have included requirement to certify stability of computer systems, and independent audit of computer systems to ensure reliability. I also suspect the failure occurred on December 23, but they hoped to fix the problem in a short time so they could place full blame on the weather and save the airlines at least one night's accommodation for several thousand people (for example: 7,000 * $75 = $525,000).

I believe this has cost me approximately $1,700 in lost luggage and presents, $100 in accommodations and car rentals, $1000 in ticket on reliable airline as Comair was unwilling to rebook on another airline (though I could roll the dice and see if the system came up by the time my flight was to depart home; if I missed it, Comair was unwilling to book on another carrier and had no availability until Jan 1).

I was fortunate in that I was only delayed one night, and could afford accommodations, alternative air transport home and a car rental. Other people suffered significantly more.

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