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American Airlines Accidentally Let Too Many Pilots Take Off The Holidays (npr.org)

Posted by msmash on from the best-error-ever,-pilots-said dept.

A glitch in American Airlines' pilot scheduling system means that thousands of flights during the holiday season currently do not have pilots assigned to fly them. From a report: The shortage was caused by an error in the system pilots use to bid for time off, the Allied Pilots Association told NPR. The union represents the airline's 15,000 pilots. "The airline is a 24/7 op," union spokesman Dennis Tajer told CNBC. "The system went from responsibly scheduling everybody to becoming Santa Claus to everyone." "The computer said, 'Hey ya'll. You want the days off? You got it.'"

5 of 200 comments (clear)

  1. Yeah.... by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm gonna need you to go ahead and come in on Christmas. That'd be great.

    1. Re:Yeah.... by slipped_bit · · Score: 5, Funny

      They're having trouble with their Transport Pilot Scheduling (TPS) reports.

  2. United drags passengers off the plane by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    American drags pilots on. What a lovely industry!!!

  3. Would a rewrite in Rust help? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Would rewriting this scheduling software in a modern programming language like Rust or Go or Node.js, which make logic and programming errors much harder to introduce, help prevent future incidents?

    1. Re: Would a rewrite in Rust help? by omnichad · · Score: 5, Funny

      That wooshing sound isn't a 747 engine.