Complexity makes airline computer systems vulnerable
On Monday, it was Delta's turn, as a power outage crippled the airline's information technology systems and forced it to cancel or delay hundreds of flights.
The answer is that airlines depend on huge, overlapping and complex IT systems to do just about everything, from operating flights to handling ticketing, boarding, websites and mobile-phone apps.
[...] after years of rapid consolidation in the airline business, these computer systems may be a hodgepodge of parts of varying ages and from different merger partners.
The airline said it suffered a power outage at an Atlanta installation around 2:30 a.m. EDT that caused many of its computer systems to fail.
Airlines have particular challenges because their systems are constantly undergoing changes and additions, including automation to handle the large volume of transactions with customers.
Southwest said it canceled 2,300 flights between July 20 and 24, about 12 percent of its schedule, and FlightStats Inc. said more than 8,000 flights were delayed.
[...] Monday, Delta had been considered among the leaders in operations and was thought to be immune to big IT problems.