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June 23, 1999
Web posted at: 1:12 p.m. EDT (1712 GMT)

by Stewart Deck

(IDG) -- Next January, the year 2000 bug will get blamed for plenty of slowdowns and equipment failures, but some U.S. airlines are already blaming Y2K systems testing for flight delays.

Don't believe it.

"I have no idea why airlines would say that. It's completely false," said Paul Takemoto, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. "All of our [Y2K] systems testing was completed last March."

Nonetheless, at least two airlines have told fliers that Y2K testing delayed their flights.

Last Monday, American Airlines gate agents in Chicago told passengers headed to Providence that nationwide ground stoppages were being caused by Y2K testing. But Elizabeth Cory, the FAA's deputy of public affairs for the Great Lakes region, said, "That's not true. It appears that we have some ground agents giving out inaccurate information. There is no Y2K testing taking place."

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John Hotard, a spokesman for American, said gate agents often look for a quick, convenient answer to give harried passengers. "Y2K testing can be an easy answer to give for delays when they really don't know," Hotard said. "We need to do a better job of giving accurate information to agents."

Several FAA insiders tell of FAA Administrator Jane Garvey's flight last month on US Airways that was ostensibly held up by Y2K air-traffic control systems testing. Garvey called her control center to check the excuse and was told it was a fabrication. Chagrined US Airways Group Inc. officials have since acknowledged the importance of being accurate with customers.

One air traffic official conceded that there have been more flight delays recently but said they are attributable to systems upgrades, not Y2K testing. Ken Kluge, an air traffic controller and the safety representative for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association in the Great Lakes Region, said the FAA is replacing the 1970s-vintage workstations in each of the 20 national Air Route Traffic Control Centers with new radar tracking equipment and color monitors.

Recent installations in Cleveland, Chicago and New York have required some restrictions on air traffic so the controllers could become comfortable working on the new consoles. That has slowed down air traffic, he said.

Michael Motta, president of the Seattle branch of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said airlines are using Y2K to deflect blame from their own problems.

Reporters Patrick Thibodeau and Kathleen Ohlson contributed to this story.