I used to work for a company that supplies IT solutions to the airline industry.. A lot of the airline customer-facing systems (reservations, ticketing, frequent traveler) were built in the 60s - 80s.  However, there are continuous upgrades to those systems based on business needs or government requirement, etc. Southwest did upgrade their reservations system about ten years ago.  However, they did not invest appropriately in labor assignment or scheduling software...that has been their downfall.  As much as I like Southwest, they are still stuck in the mindset of being 'the little TX airline that could'.  Plus, their corporate culture is all about cutting costs. In the airline (low margin) biz that is important to draw investors.  But, obviously it has bitten them you know where this time.

I used to work for a company that supplies IT solutions to the airline industry.. A lot of the airline customer-facing systems (reservations, ticketing, frequent traveler) were built in the 60s - 80s.  However, there are continuous upgrades to those systems based on business needs or government requirement, etc. Southwest did upgrade their reservations system about ten years ago.  However, they did not invest appropriately in labor assignment or scheduling software...that has been their downfall.  As much as I like Southwest, they are still stuck in the mindset of being 'the little TX airline that could'.  Plus, their corporate culture is all about cutting costs. In the airline (low margin) biz that is important to draw investors.  But, obviously it has bitten them you know where this time.

user
no
assistant