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Strassel * Allysia Finley MORE * Editorials * Commentary * Future View * Houses of Worship * Cross Country * Letters to the Editor * The Weekend Interview * Potomac Watch Podcast * Foreign Edition Podcast * Free Expression Podcast * Opinion Video * Notable & Quotable * Books & Arts REVIEWS * Film * Television * Theater * Masterpiece Series * Music * Dance * Opera * Exhibition * Cultural Commentary * Art SECTIONS * Arts * Books MORE * WSJ Puzzles * Life Video * Arts Video * What To Watch * Real Estate SECTIONS * Commercial Real Estate MORE * Real Estate Video * Life & Work SECTIONS * Cars * Careers * Food & Drink * Home & Design * Ideas * Personal Finance * Recipes * Travel * Wellness COLUMNS * Your Health * Work & Life * Carry On * Bonds * Turning Points * On Wine * On The Clock MORE * WSJ Puzzles * Space & Science * Style SECTIONS * Lifestyle * Fashion * Film * Television * Music * Art & Auctions COLUMNS * My Monday Morning * Off Brand * On Trend * Sports SECTIONS * MLB * NBA * NFL * Golf * Tennis * Soccer COLUMNS * Jason Gay Search Search https://www.wsj.com/articles/southwest-meltdown-shows-airlines-need-tighter-software-integration-11672687980 Share * Facebook * Twitter * LinkedIn * Copy Link * CIO Journal SOUTHWEST MELTDOWN SHOWS AIRLINES NEED TIGHTER SOFTWARE INTEGRATION THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY IS LONG OVERDUE FOR A TECH OVERHAUL THAT TAKES FULL ADVANTAGE OF THE CLOUD AND DATA INTEGRATION, ANALYSTS SAY The Wall Street Journal Continue reading your article with a WSJ membership. Special Offer €2 per Month View Membership Options AT MIDWAY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IN CHICAGO LAST WEEK, A TRAVELER SEARCHED FOR HER LUGGAGE AMONG HUNDREDS OF BAGS SEPARATED FROM THEIR OWNERS DURING THE SOUTHWEST AIRLINES MELTDOWN. Photo: E. Jason Wambsgans/Zuma Press By Belle Lin Updated Jan. 3, 2023 2:01 pm ET Print Text The Southwest Airlines Co. meltdown that stranded thousands of passengers during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year exposed a major industry shortcoming: crew-scheduling technology that was largely built for a bygone era and is due for a major overhaul. Southwest relies on crew-assignment software called SkySolver, an off-the-shelf application that it has customized and updated, but that is nearing the end of its life, according to the airline. The program was developed decades ago and is now owned by General Electric Co. During the winter storm, amid a huge volume of changes to crew schedules to work through, SkySolver couldn’t handle the task of matching crew members and which flights they should work, executives of the Dallas-based carrier said. Southwest’s software wasn’t designed to solve problems of that scale, Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson said Thursday, forcing the airline to revert to manual scheduling. Unlike some large rivals with hub-and-spoke networks, Southwest planes hopscotch from city to city, which may have been another complicating factor. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP WSJ | CIO JOURNAL The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. PREVIEW SUBSCRIBE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Multiple systems are involved in crew scheduling, according to a spokesman for GE Aerospace. The company said its software isn’t an end-to-end solution. Rather, it’s a so-called backend algorithm that airlines can supplement with other software. The algorithm gathers input from other systems to provide recommendations to resolve crew-related disruptions, according to GE Aerospace. Many carriers still rely on homegrown solutions, which largely were built on legacy mainframe computers, analysts say. Analysts and industry insiders say the airline industry is overdue for a massive technology overhaul that would take advantage of highly scalable cloud technologies and fully connect disparate sources of real-time data to better coordinate crews with aircraft. The airline sector has been among the slowest to adopt cloud-based and analytics technologies that could help solve complicated transportation network problems, those analysts say. Airline operations software historically has lagged behind other technologies because, in part, a small number of providers build dedicated systems that can handle the scale of a major airline like Southwest, said Tim Crawford, a CIO strategic adviser at enterprise IT advisory firm AVOA. The global airline IT market generated $21.2 billion in revenue in 2019, market research firm Frost & Sullivan said, and leaders include Amadeus IT Group SA, International Business Machines Corp. , and Sabre Corp. , formed in 1960 through a joint initiative between American Airlines Group Inc. and IBM. Partnerships with cloud providers like Alphabet Inc.’s Google Cloud and Amazon.com Inc.’s Amazon Web Services also are expected to help airlines and solutions providers improve their technologies, Frost & Sullivan said. They are part of the technology-partner ecosystem, which could help them become future direct competitors to airline-software companies, according to Frost & Sullivan. Dr. Edward Rothberg, chief scientist of Gurobi Optimization LLC, a startup that develops mathematical optimization software used by carriers including Air France-KLM, said Southwest’s hopscotched “point-to-point” model—rather than the hub-and-spoke model—greatly increases the difficulty of the problem, requiring more computational power than its current systems are likely able to handle. Much of the complexity behind airline-operations technology stems from the many real-time data points and constraints a single system must take into account, including federal regulations, weather, crew status and location, and aircraft maintenance and routing, said Jahan Alamzad, an airline analyst at consulting firm CA Advisors. Mr. Alamzad said the most serious IT challenge airlines face stems from the applications developed in silos by vendors or the airlines themselves. When carriers upgrade to newer analytics software to improve the routing of their aircraft, for example, those systems aren’t connected with software they use to manage the crew who work those flights. While that lack of connection isn’t usually a problem in airlines’ day-to-day operations, it can become disastrous during severe disruptions like the holiday storm, Mr. Alamzad said. In Southwest’s case, SkySolver works well during more typical disruptions, but didn’t during the “extreme circumstances” of the past week’s storm, Lauren Woods, the airline’s vice president of technology platforms and incoming chief information officer, said Thursday. Southwest Chief Executive Officer Bob Jordan said that while the carrier has good systems in some areas, those systems still need “better intelligence to talk to each other.” For instance, he said “The Baker,” an optimization system developed by Southwest to automate disruption recovery and select flights to cancel, needs “better visibility” into its crew-scheduling systems. Airlines generally have done a better job of maintenance and repair operations, but are much further behind in “the human aspect” of matching up crews, equipment, and passengers, said R “Ray” Wang, founder and principal analyst at IT consulting firm Constellation Research Inc. Updating technology systems is particularly challenging for air carriers because of the business and operations risk of taking down a system, which can include grounded planes or stranded passengers, Mr. Crawford said. Southwest recently completed an upgrade of its new reservation system and had been working through multiyear upgrades to systems used in its operations. But it had focused on maintenance and ground operations ahead of crew scheduling, said Southwest’s Mr. Watterson. “At the time that seemed like a proper sequence,” he said. Other carriers have given priority to upgrading customer-facing reservations platforms and flier loyalty programs over operations systems, Mr. Alamzad said. Mr. Jordan said Southwest’s meltdown may push forward some of its operations modernization. “I cannot imagine that this doesn’t drive changes to the plan,” he said. “It’s the pace, maybe the level of spending. There may be a change in order of priority.” —Alison Sider contributed to this article. THE SOUTHWEST MELTDOWN The latest news on the airline's holiday cancellation and luggage fiasco Airline Shows Progress in Push to Restore Flights Can Southwest Buy Back Customers' Love? Southwest Promises to Reimburse Customers How Southwest Airlines Melted Down Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8 Appeared in the January 3, 2023, print edition as 'Southwest Snafu Shows Airlines Need a Major Technology Update.' * TAPPING VIRTUAL HEALTH’S FULL POTENTIAL While virtual health is on the upswing, human touch remains key to care delivery. Health organizations can balance consumer and physician needs by reimagining workflows, training, and investments. * US CLIMATE LAWS CAN PROPEL THE ENERGY TRANSITION AND BUSINESS The private sector is pivotal to using a half-trillion dollars in incentives and loans to propel net zero goals and position U.S. industry to lead the global green economy, says RMI’s Sarah Ladislaw. * 2023 GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY, MEDIA, AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS PREDICTIONS Would you like ads with your streaming video? Will AI design better chips? Can 5G phones cost less than $100? Deloitte Global’s TMT Predictions 2023 report highlights what’s in store. CONTENT FROM OUR SPONSOR:DELOITTE The Wall Street Journal news department was not involved in the creation of this content. Sponsored Offers * American Eagle Outfitters: All Jeans + Pants 25% off! Plus, 60% off clearance with American Eagle promo code * Wayfair: Up to 15% off + free shipping at Wayfair * Kohl's: Kohl's Coupon 30% Off sitewide WITH IOT, THE SKY’S THE LIMIT AT SOUTHWEST The airline’s long-standing commitment to customer service ignited a quest to weave the internet of things throughout the business, uncovering further opportunities to pair technology with physical infrastructure. AMID INDUSTRY TURBULENCE, AMERICAN AIRLINES FOCUSES ON ITS CUSTOMERS American Airlines Chief Customer Officer Alison Taylor discusses the company’s efforts to deliver a more seamless and intuitive customer experience. TAPPING VIRTUAL HEALTH’S FULL POTENTIAL While virtual health is on the upswing, human touch remains key to care delivery. Health organizations can balance consumer and physician needs by reimagining workflows, training, and investments. Content from our Sponsor: Deloitte The Wall Street Journal news department was not involved in the creation of this content. MOST POPULAR NEWS * ANCIENT DNA PAINTS A NEW PICTURE OF THE VIKING AGE * ‘DID WE WIN?’: DAMAR HAMLIN AWAKE AND IMPROVING AFTER COLLAPSE DURING NFL GAME * AMAZON TO LAY OFF OVER 18,000 WORKERS, THE MOST IN TECH WAVE * WHY WORKING OUT DURING THE WORKDAY IS THE ULTIMATE POWER MOVE * BED BATH & BEYOND PREPARES TO FILE FOR BANKRUPTCY WITHIN WEEKS MOST POPULAR OPINION * OPINION: THE CAMPAIGN TO RE-EDUCATE JORDAN PETERSON * OPINION: WHO’S CRAZY ENOUGH TO BE A REPUBLICAN SPEAKER? * OPINION: THE TRAGEDY OF KEVIN MCCARTHY * OPINION: BIDEN SNOOKERS JOE MANCHIN AGAIN * OPINION: I GOT 2022 MOSTLY RIGHT. NOW ON TO 2023! 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