The US airline industry has notified the Clinton Administration that all year 2000 (Y2K) compliance work should be completed by 31 August. The move comes as other organisations prepare to file their findings on the worldwide status of the industry.
US aviation officials say the situation in the rest of the world cannot be determined until the International Civil Aviation Organisation and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) report at the end of this month.
A status report says that US and Canadian airlines' Y2K efforts are 95% finished, with full completion expected by the end of the summer. US airports are also on track, and Boeing and Airbus Industrie say their Y2K flight testing shows no flight safety issues.
The US Federal Aviation Administration has completed its Y2K work, but has yet to pass review by other government departments.
IATA plays down the likelihood of Y2K problems and, at its recent annual general meeting, reported that member airlines are well on the way to full compliance. The organisation does not have major air traffic control (ATC) concerns - although it admits that question marks remain over whether airport infrastructures can cope adequately.
Despite IATA and US Air Transport Association findings, an information technology trends survey carried out by SITA and Flight International sister publication Airline Business found that two-thirds of the major airlines that responded had, by the end of June, yet to achieve full Y2K compliance. Of the 91 carriers out of the world's top 150 airlines (61%) that responded, only one-third claim to have achieved full compliance to date.
Meanwhile, the British Airline Pilots Association says that ATC standards in parts of Eastern Europe and Africa "have concerned pilots for some time". The association adds that its pilots "will not be flying to anywhere over New Year's eve where airports or ATC systems are not Y2K compliant".
Source: Flight International
