Comair System Crashes; Passengers Stranded

Broerman writes "30,000 people have had their flights cancelled by Comair this weekend thanks to a computer system shutdown. It appears that due to weather and other problems that flights began to be cancelled on Thursday and the backlog choked the system. 1,100 flights have been cancelled so far, including all flights through 12/26. Does anyone know what platform their system was based on? What kind of system just totally crashes? The official statement is that 'There was a cumulative effect with the canceled flights and trying to get crew assigned that caused the system to be overwhelmed.' It seems highly improbable that a system would crash because it had too many reservations. The system should only be able to hold as many reservations as it has flights/seats. It would seem that it's more likely that the system was overloaded with use and that caused a meltdown. When you add in the problems experienced by US Airways, this hasn't been a Merry Christmas for many."

Comments

Re:The system runs Linux

[Anonymous Coward]

So it was a hardware problem. Good call.

Re:Slashdot this

[Gentlewhisper]

Please attack my CD to MP3 guide site with all the vehemence you can muster. Thanks.

W00t.. Another fellow Australian on Internode!