KLM has put its conference on the "millennium bomb" off until later this year, but has repeated its call for greater urgency in the airline and aerospace industries in tackling the problem.
Meanwhile, with fears that one of the key problems might be at its most acute in air traffic control systems in developing countries, warnings have been sounded that even the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) may not be ready in time.
KLM, which broke ranks with the airline industry by giving the issue a high public profile, has re-stated the possibility of its grounding some flights at the turn of the millennium.
The millennium bomb problem centres on the fact that early computer programmers used only the last two digits when expressing years. Thus, 2000 will appear as 00, with unpredictable results which may range from information systems interpreting it as 1900 to computers crashing.
KLM's planned cross-industry conference, scheduled for this month, has been put back to the second half of this year. "It was a problem of logistics," says a spokesman for KLM, "but the story is still there and so we are still running our campaign to raise awareness because the problem is still there."
The airline has created an Internet website and is publishing a range of materials such as calendars to highlight the issue. It has even offered other airlines free use of the material to help spread the word.
There have been no takers yet. "If we share information, we have a better chance of success, but people often find it hard to accept that something is being offered for free."
With awareness now moving into the public domain, KLM's spokesman believes the only way to avert panic among the travelling public is through education. "If you don't communicate with people and you think this will not result in fear, you are like the ostrich burying its head in the sand."
He declines to identify regions of the world which are causing the airline most concern.
However, to the surprise of many, the FAA has come in for criticism on the problem.
In a blunt assessment of the FAA's progress to date, a US General Accounting Office (GAO) report says: "At its (the FAA's) current pace, it will not make it in time."
Awareness
The report says that the FAA was "severely behind schedule" in completing basic awareness activities and lacked the information it needed to develop reliable cost estimates.
"On the basis of our discussions with FAA personnel, it is clear that FAA's ability to ensure the safety of the National Airspace System and to avoid the grounding of planes could be compromised if systems are not changed," says the report.
A key problem area is in information technology interdependency between the FAA and other organisations.
"Airlines raised the concern that their own Year 2000 compliance was irrelevant if FAA was not compliant because of the many system interdependencies. Airline representatives further explained that flights could not even get off the ground on 1 January 2000 unless the FAA is substantially Year 2000 compliant - and that would be an economic disaster."
However, recently-appointed FAA administrator Jane Garvey has told Congress that the FAA would make it in time. She says: "Can we ensure that air traffic safety is not compromised in the slightest at 12.01 a.m. on January 1, 2000? The answer to that question is yes."
Source: Flight Daily News
