Disaster recovery Toolkit

Story: The top 10 IT disasters of all time

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How about the Denver Airport?

[Cited from Wikipedia]

The airport's computerized baggage system, which was supposed to reduce flight delays, shorten waiting times at luggage carousels, and save airlines in labor costs, turned into an unmitigated failure, and is widely given as a textbook example of a software engineering disaster. An opening originally scheduled for October 31, 1993 with a single system for all three concourses turned into a February 28, 1995 opening with separate systems for each concourse, with varying degrees of automation.

The system's $186 million in original construction costs grew by $1 million per day during months of modifications and repairs. Incoming flights never made use of the system, and only United, DIA's dominant airline, used it for outgoing flights. The 40-year-old company responsible for the design of the automated system, BAE Automated Systems of Carrollton, Texas, at one time responsible for 90% of the baggage systems in the U.S., was acquired in 2002 by G&T Conveyor Company, Inc.

The automated baggage system never worked well, and in August 2005, it became public knowledge that United would abandon the system, a decision that would save them $1 million in monthly maintenance costs.

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