Twice in less than a month, a major airline was paralysed by a computer outage that prevented passengers from checking in and flights from taking off. Last month, it took Southwest days to recover from a breakdown it blamed on a faulty router. On Monday, it was Delta's turn, as a power outage crippled the airline's information technology systems and forced it to cancel or delay hundreds of flights. Delta employees had to write out boarding passes by hand, and at one airport they resurrected a dot-matrix printer from the graveyard of 1980s technology. Why do these kinds of meltdowns keep happening? The answer is that airlines depend on huge, overlapping and complex IT systems to do just about everything, from operating flights to handling ticketing, boarding, websites and mobile-phone apps. And after years of rapid consolidation in the airline business, these computer systems may be a hodgepodge of parts of varying ages and from different merger partners. These systems are also being worked harder, with new fees and options for passengers, and more transactions — Delta's traffic has nearly doubled in the past decade. "These old legacy systems are operating much larger airlines that are being accessed in many, many more ways," said Daniel Baker, CEO of tracking service FlightAware.com. "It has really been taxing." The result: IT failures that can inconvenience tens of thousands of passengers and create long-lasting ill will. It is unclear exactly what went wrong at Delta. The airline said it suffered a power outage at an Atlanta installation around 2:30 a.m. EDT that caused many of its computer systems to fail. But the local electric company, Georgia Power, said that it was not to blame and that the equipment failure was on Delta's end. IT experts questioned whether Delta's network was adequately prepared for the inevitable breakdown. "One piece of equipment going out shouldn't cause this," said Bill Curtis, chief scientist at software-analysis firm Cast. "It's a bit shocking." Delta officials declined to say what kind of backup procedures they have.<br/>
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A criminal investigation into Airbus’s practices in selling planes and arranging financing overseas will seek to shed light on the use of third parties who are often critical in closing deals. The inquiry, which the UK’s Serious Fraud Office said it opened in July and Airbus disclosed Sunday, could run for years. While Airbus may not feel the short-term impact, given that it has dropped the questionable middlemen and expects suspended financing guarantees to be restored, an unfavorable outcome could result in fines and damage the company’s reputation. Scrutiny of the use of third parties comes as Airbus and its rivals seek greater influence in emerging markets, which have taken over from the US and Europe as drivers of growth in the commercial aircraft business. Airbus said in April that top management had identified questionable use of third parties and alerted the UK and other regulators, but the formal investigation brings the issue to a new, more serious level. “The news came as a shock, since the issue had been downplayed,” Kepler Cheuvreux analyst Christophe Menard said in a note to investors Monday. “It could turn out to be more serious than envisaged.”<br/>One focus of the SFO inquiry is Airbus’s failure to disclose its use of third parties to UK Export Finance, an agency that arranges credit guarantees for overseas sales. Airbus lost export credit in April after the plane maker informed authorities of inaccuracies in a number of applications. Government guarantees are expected to resume by year-end, Airbus CEO Tom Enders has said.<br/>
The FAA is seeking new air traffic controllers. Faced with what their union calls a severe shortage of workers, the agency is looking for more than 1,400 people to undergo a 13 onth training program at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City. The number of workers in the field hit a 27-year low in 2015, and it has continued to decline this year, according to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. In June, the union warned that the shortage could result in “system inefficiencies, delays, and a reduction in air traffic services for the flying public.” An FAA spokesperson said Monday that the organisation is now “back on track” to meet its hiring goals, which was held up by a hiring freeze due to lack of funding. The spokesperson said previous hiring rounds have attracted more than 20,000 applications for the 1,000 or so available positions. The new trainees will receive salaries ranging from $22,888 to $28,626, and those that are offered a permanent position as an air traffic controller after completing the program will make a starting salary of $38,193 per year, according to the jobs listing. The spokesperson said a “significant” number of the trainees usually end up with jobs. From there, the gig can offer attractive pay raises. The FAA says the median salary for air traffic controllers is about $123,000.<br/>
Flight bookings to Britain rose in the month following the country’s vote to leave the EU as international visitors sought to take advantage of a cheaper UK-based holiday after a slump in the pound. Inbound flight reservations rose 4.3% in the 28 days to July 21 compared to the same period last year, according to travel information firm ForwardKeys, reversing the trend in the month before the referendum when bookings were 2.8% lower. Britain’s vote to leave the EU on June 23 prompted the pound to weaken against both the dollar and the euro by around 10%, making it cheaper for holders of those currencies to visit the UK. ForwardKeys put the pickup in bookings to Britain down to the change in the exchange rate. “Brexit had an immediate, positive impact on inbound tourism to the UK, which is converting into better than anticipated arrivals,” ForwardKeys CE Olivier Jager said Monday.<br/>
Asian airlines dominate a new ranking of "the most loved airlines" with Garuda Indonesia receiving the highest customer satisfaction score. In the list compiled by international air transport rating organization Skytrax, the Indonesian carrier received an approval rating of 85% by fliers, followed by Asian Airlines and Eva Air. In fact, 11 of the top 15 spots are occupied by Asian airlines. The highest non-Asian carrier is Greece's Aegean Airlines, which placed fourth on the list. The only North American carrier represented is Virgin America, which squeaked into 15th place. For the ranking, analysts looked at how customers rated their overall flight experience, which was measured on a scale of one to 10. Customers were asked to consider everything from seat comfort, onboard services, food and beverages, in-flight entertainment and value for money. The highest-ranked major US carrier is Delta Airlines, followed by United and American Airlines. Story has list of top 15. <br/>