Southwest braces for upgrade of 30-year-old reservations system

Southwest Airlines plans to shift its domestic reservation system to a new platform Tuesday, attempting to avoid the havoc that plagued similar transitions at other carriers. “These are very complicated,” said Bob Edwards, a former chief information officer at United Airlines who supervised the merger of reservation systems for United and Continental in 2012. “All of them are serious and high risk. Anything can go wrong.” Southwest’s update is particularly important as the carrier has expanded to international markets and become the biggest US airline by domestic passengers. The change will give the airline the same ability as rivals to accept foreign currency, recover faster from storms and change schedules more easily. Customers shouldn’t notice differences to the booking process -- assuming all goes smoothly. <br/>