TE All systems stop
glitch n-c.小故障；小毛病；小差错
hard to eliminate glitches from their IT systems
bleary-eyed a.因困倦而视线模糊的
snafu n. (一切均未按计划发生的)混乱局面
outage n-c.停电期
dot-matrix printer 点阵打印机
boarding pass 登机牌
defunct a.不再存在的;停止运转的;坏了的
a defunct airline 倒闭淹没的航空公司
crew scheduling 机组调度
hairball n.毛团
resemble technological hairballs
cobble (sth.) together 粗制滥造，匆匆拼凑
arrived at London’s Heathrow airport 抵达伦敦希思罗机场
a malfunctioning power-control system 电力控制系统
knock out 摧毁；使瘫痪
knock out its primary and backup systems 破坏了主系统和备用系统
come/ grind to a halt for around five hours | be brought to a halt 完全停止
grind to a halt for around five hours 陷入五个小时的停顿
brought its systems down for 12 hours 导致系统瘫痪12小时
passenger check-in and bag tracing 旅客登机办理和包裹追踪
to get its computers running again
If data is not properly backed up 如果数据没有正确备份
one small problem quickly spirals into bigger ones 一个小问题都会迅速演变成多个大问题
outweigh the benefits
Airlines and technology
All systems stop
Why big firms like Delta find it so hard to eliminate glitches from their IT systems
Waiting for an upgrade
EARLY in the morning of August 8th, streams of bleary-eyed passengers arrived at London’s Heathrow airport, hoping for a smooth ride across the Atlantic with Delta Air Lines, America’s second-largest carrier. But most did not realise they were the first victims of the most disruptive IT glitch that has hit an airline in recent years until they got to check-in desks unable to access their details. The snafus—caused by a computer outage 4,000 miles away in Delta’s Atlanta HQ—prompted the airline to cancel more than 2,000 flights, delay several hundred thousand passengers’ journeys, and in some places go back to printing boarding passes on dot-matrix machines fit to be museum pieces.
The chaos highlights how vulnerable big firms are to their IT systems crashing. Delta initially blamed its electricity supplier for the outage. But the airline’s chief operating officer, Gil West, later admitted that a malfunctioning power-control system at its data centre was really to blame. The 22-year-old piece of kit started a small fire, knocking out its primary and backup systems. Either way, unable to access customer records or to compile passenger lists ahead of aircraft take-offs to meet security requirements, the entire airline ground to a halt for around five hours.
Such accidents can happen, even to an company such as Delta whose systems were thought by aviation analysts to be better than those of its rivals. Only last month Southwest was forced to cancel 2,300 flights because of a faulty router that brought its systems down for 12 hours. Last September American Airlines suspended flights for several hours from Dallas/Fort Worth, its largest hub, after a similar glitch. And since the merger of United and Continental in 2010, their tacked-together IT systems have failed regularly.
What is more surprising is that it took Delta so long to get its computers running again. It has lately spent hundreds of millions of dollars on IT upgrades. But airlines’ systems are hugely complex beasts. If data is not properly backed up, for instance, it can take days to reload and make sure hundreds of connected subsystems work. “Technology is like painting a bridge. Work is never done,” Delta’s chief information officer, Rahul Samant, said in June.
One reason for the complexity is that airlines were early adopters of computerised systems. They built their first electronic reservation systems in the early 1950s; Delta’s current system once belonged to a defunct airline that went bust in 1982. But as airlines merged and more new functions were added—from crew scheduling to passenger check-in and bag tracing—they have come to resemble technological hairballs in which one small problem quickly spirals into bigger ones that even experts struggle to disentangle.
Airlines are not the only firms plagued by such problems. Banks, too, were among the first companies to invest in IT. And they too grapple with systems cobbled together over decades. When RBS, a British bank, tried to upgrade its systems in 2012, a malfunction left many thousands of customers without access to their accounts.
Yet bosses in both industries say they are reluctant to replace their systems. For an airline, it would cost billions of dollars and take five years to do. Worse still, no single IT firm has the skills to provide all the software needed for a complete replacement. With the average tenure of airline CEOs so short, the risks of such a project going wrong outweigh the benefits. It is hard for any firm to entirely eliminate IT glitches; for many it simply isn’t worth it.
hard to eliminate glitches from their IT systems
bleary-eyed a.因困倦而视线模糊的
snafu n. (一切均未按计划发生的)混乱局面
outage n-c.停电期
dot-matrix printer 点阵打印机
boarding pass 登机牌
defunct a.不再存在的;停止运转的;坏了的
a defunct airline 倒闭淹没的航空公司
crew scheduling 机组调度
hairball n.毛团
resemble technological hairballs
cobble (sth.) together 粗制滥造，匆匆拼凑
arrived at London’s Heathrow airport 抵达伦敦希思罗机场
a malfunctioning power-control system 电力控制系统
knock out 摧毁；使瘫痪
knock out its primary and backup systems 破坏了主系统和备用系统
come/ grind to a halt for around five hours | be brought to a halt 完全停止
grind to a halt for around five hours 陷入五个小时的停顿
brought its systems down for 12 hours 导致系统瘫痪12小时
passenger check-in and bag tracing 旅客登机办理和包裹追踪
to get its computers running again
If data is not properly backed up 如果数据没有正确备份
one small problem quickly spirals into bigger ones 一个小问题都会迅速演变成多个大问题
outweigh the benefits
Airlines and technology
All systems stop
Why big firms like Delta find it so hard to eliminate glitches from their IT systems
Waiting for an upgrade
EARLY in the morning of August 8th, streams of bleary-eyed passengers arrived at London’s Heathrow airport, hoping for a smooth ride across the Atlantic with Delta Air Lines, America’s second-largest carrier. But most did not realise they were the first victims of the most disruptive IT glitch that has hit an airline in recent years until they got to check-in desks unable to access their details. The snafus—caused by a computer outage 4,000 miles away in Delta’s Atlanta HQ—prompted the airline to cancel more than 2,000 flights, delay several hundred thousand passengers’ journeys, and in some places go back to printing boarding passes on dot-matrix machines fit to be museum pieces.
The chaos highlights how vulnerable big firms are to their IT systems crashing. Delta initially blamed its electricity supplier for the outage. But the airline’s chief operating officer, Gil West, later admitted that a malfunctioning power-control system at its data centre was really to blame. The 22-year-old piece of kit started a small fire, knocking out its primary and backup systems. Either way, unable to access customer records or to compile passenger lists ahead of aircraft take-offs to meet security requirements, the entire airline ground to a halt for around five hours.
Such accidents can happen, even to an company such as Delta whose systems were thought by aviation analysts to be better than those of its rivals. Only last month Southwest was forced to cancel 2,300 flights because of a faulty router that brought its systems down for 12 hours. Last September American Airlines suspended flights for several hours from Dallas/Fort Worth, its largest hub, after a similar glitch. And since the merger of United and Continental in 2010, their tacked-together IT systems have failed regularly.
What is more surprising is that it took Delta so long to get its computers running again. It has lately spent hundreds of millions of dollars on IT upgrades. But airlines’ systems are hugely complex beasts. If data is not properly backed up, for instance, it can take days to reload and make sure hundreds of connected subsystems work. “Technology is like painting a bridge. Work is never done,” Delta’s chief information officer, Rahul Samant, said in June.
One reason for the complexity is that airlines were early adopters of computerised systems. They built their first electronic reservation systems in the early 1950s; Delta’s current system once belonged to a defunct airline that went bust in 1982. But as airlines merged and more new functions were added—from crew scheduling to passenger check-in and bag tracing—they have come to resemble technological hairballs in which one small problem quickly spirals into bigger ones that even experts struggle to disentangle.
Airlines are not the only firms plagued by such problems. Banks, too, were among the first companies to invest in IT. And they too grapple with systems cobbled together over decades. When RBS, a British bank, tried to upgrade its systems in 2012, a malfunction left many thousands of customers without access to their accounts.
Yet bosses in both industries say they are reluctant to replace their systems. For an airline, it would cost billions of dollars and take five years to do. Worse still, no single IT firm has the skills to provide all the software needed for a complete replacement. With the average tenure of airline CEOs so short, the risks of such a project going wrong outweigh the benefits. It is hard for any firm to entirely eliminate IT glitches; for many it simply isn’t worth it.
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