No Y2K problems for RI aviation industry

No Y2K problems for RI aviation industry

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's aviation industry will have its
computer systems free from any problems posed by the millennium
bug by the second quarter of this year, Minister of
Communications Giri Suseno Hadihardjono said on Thursday.

He said the government, airport managements and airline
operators had given high priority to dealing with the millennium
bug, also known as the Y2K. This priority also includes providing
the necessary funds to deal with any potential Y2K problems, he
said.

Airlines are now looking at possible millennium bug problems
in their electronic components, aircraft computer systems and on-
line reservation systems, he said.

Airport managements also are working on possible Y2K problems,
including looking at computer systems used for air traffic
control (ATC), Giri said.

"God willing, all operations regarding Y2K compliance for the
air transportation sector will be completed by the end of the
second quarter of this year," Giri said.

He said priority was being given to major airports which
operated high-technology electronic systems in their ATCs,
including Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta,
Polonia Airport in Medan, Juanda Airport in Surabaya and Ngurah
Rai Airport in Bali.

Bringing computer systems into compliance does not necessarily
require a huge expenditure by airport managements, he said.

"The funds are not so large because from the beginning we have
required all new electronic equipment for airports to be Y2K
compliant, so components needed to fix airport systems are not
too costly," he was quoted by Antara as saying.

Y2K problems are expected to arise from the inability of some
computers and computer systems to recognize the date on Jan. 1,
2000, because computers were programmed to read only the last two
digits of a year.

The glitch may cause computers to malfunction or shut down.

Giri said travel agents who use on-line reservation systems
also must make sure their computer systems were Y2K compliant.

Giri, chairman of the government-sponsored Y2K problem
handling team, said the banking sector and the customs office
would likely be free from possible millennium bug problems by the
end of June.

Those who have made their computer systems Y2K compliant
should also prepare contingency plans and conduct some testing to
anticipate possible failures, Giri said.

He hailed state-electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik
Negara's (PLN) move to prepare contingency plans despite its
optimism that its computer system was Y2K compliant.

PLN announced earlier this week it had allocated US$15 million
to upgrade its computer system in anticipation of the millennium
bug. (cst)