Something weird happening out there...
Computer glitch turns Southwest Airlines deals into a debacle
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/aug/06/business/la-fi-0806-southwest-glitch-20120806
The “weird thing” is that both Delta and Southwest have built single points of failure into their systems. Driving into work, Fox Business reported that the failure is due to a power outage in Atlanta. Back up power either did not work or was not present.
If this report is accurate, Delta needs to fire whoever did not ensure backup power was continiously available for this critical system.
Additionally, Delta needs to identify and configure a back up system (electronic or manual) to ensure continuity of operations. I am reasonably confident that the cost of a system would be less that the cost of a total system shutdown.