Fed: Planes Y2K ready CASA

AAP General News (Australia)
12-14-1999
Fed: Planes Y2K ready CASA

CANBERRA, Dec 14 AAP - Australian planes have received the official word from aviation
authorities that they are safe from millennium bug (Y2K) hiccups.

The nation's 1,879 aviation authorities were Y2K ready, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority
(CASA) announced today.

"The large airlines have spent hundreds of millions of dollars getting ready for Y2K,"

CASA's director of aviation safety Mick Toller said in a statement.

"Smaller aviation authorities have identified any Y2K risks and taken appropriate action.

"Australia's air traffic control systems are also Y2K ready and detailed operational
plans are in place for the rollover period."

Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister John Anderson said he was so confident,
he would catch a plane from Sydney to Canberra on January 1, 2000.

"I think we have managed this whole issue of the millennium bug and our whole preparedness
for it pretty well in this country," Mr Anderson told reporters.

"And I think those responsible for it deserve commendation."

All available information indicated the Y2K computer rollover would not impact on air
safety, CASA said.

There are fears worldwide that computer systems will fail to properly recognise the
00 dateline when the clock ticks over from 1999, instead believing it to be the year 1900.

CASA had previously set a November 29 deadline for aviation organisations to provide
them with Y2K Statements of Accomplishment or face suspension.

Almost 40 organisations failed to meet the deadline but had provided the statements
after the threat of regulatory action by CASA.

"The aviation industry put a lot of work to meet CASA's Y2K program, which started
in July 1998," Mr Toller said.

"The end result is that Australia is one of the leading nations in the world in Y2K
readiness in aviation."

AAP lm/mfh/hu/de

KEYWORD: Y2K PLANES

1999 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.