STORY:
Airports Y2K Ready for Takeoff in New Year

The Nation’s airports cleared of Y2K bugs and will soar into New Year

While many people seem to be afraid to fly this New Year's Eve, all of the nation’s airports say they are ready for the Year 2000. Nearly 600 airports across the country submitted reports with the Fed eral Aviation Administration saying that their computers will pose no safety or security risks on January 1.

The FAA has visited or interviewed officials from 565 airports to determine if they have made the proper Y2K plans. While the FAA didn’t personally check out every airport, FAA officials did interview officials at the airports and looked at paperwork. The FAA had to determine if the airports have adequate Y2K plans for computerized operations, such as airfield lighting, radio communications, fire dispatch and locks on doors to restricted areas.

The FAA is just making sure the airports’ plans are appropriate for their operations. About half of the airports do not rely on computerized to control access to airliner ramps and other sensitive parts of the airports so in those cases no changes had to be made.

The government has a special web site set up for travelers who want to be sure the airport they are headed to is prepared for the New Year. You can log on to (www.fly2k.dot.gov) to find out about airport readiness.

Airport readiness is separate from airline readiness. The FAA is also going to post information on U.S. air carriers and their Y2K readiness plans also. There are 3,000 U.S. airlines offering passenger service and many still have not responded to FAA requests for Y2K information. FAA officials say most major airlines have responded to requests for information, but many charter or on-demand services have not. Those services are used by only 2percent of the flying public. You can check on your carrier by logging on to the government site also.

The FAA plans to include updates on the Year 2000 status of foreign travel destinations. You should be able to find information about the Y2K readiness of 135 nations on the web site within the next month.

DATE: 11/8/99

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