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An Inside Look: United Airlines' Mission Control Center

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An Inside Look: United Airlines' Mission Control Center (www.forbes.com) Plus d'info...

Ryan Jorgenson
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PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 4
They should have a back-up facility in case access to the Willis Tower site is interrupted, either in nearby suburbs, or preferably at their Houston location.

After 9/11 most/all the Wall St institutions built back-up trading floors. A NOC is mission critical for such a large airline. They would have trouble coordinating so many daily operations and all the employees necessary to complete the daily schedule without a facility.
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CaptainFreedom
CaptainFreedom 3
I'm sure they have a Business Continuity Plan of some variety. Companies tend not to discuss these things, even though they may dedicate a lot of resources toward it.
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WALLACE24
WALLACE24 -1
Probably can't afford a backup after paying Illinois, cook county, and Chicago taxes. Not to mention the shakedown money to the politicians. Lol
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PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
Actualy it's can't afford not to have a backup.
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preacher1
preacher1 1
Granted it is a necessity but Wallace is right, after all the taxes and shakedowns they may not be able to afford it. LOL
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abowland
Andy Bowland 2
Just a guess but I'd bet they use the old continental SOC as an emergency backup
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preacher1
preacher1 2
The article made brief reference to a backup somewhere but did not say where. My guess is that since they are in Chicago, it may be the old United MOC, but I figure it's in the area somewhere.
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LarryQB
LarryQB 1
It's come a long way since I worked a staff job in the People Express dispatch/systems control center. The automation is amazing. We probably had 22 people or so per shift and handled a fraction of the flights per person that the newer systems do. We piggy backed on the Continental flight planning system with a not-very-user-friendly backup system. The tertiary backup was to pull yesterdays flight plan out of the file.
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Pileits
Pileits -1
In my opinion UAL was totally financially irresponsible putting their data center in a major city downtown area. What a miserable commute for those people working there.

If Google and Apple are putting their data centers out in the middle of nowhere they didn't just do it because they like the boon-docks. They did it for financial reasons (cheaper) as well as making those data centers less accessible, therefore MORE secure. The employee's working there for Apple and Google enjoy a better lifestyle as well by the fact the cost of living is much less and they don't have to deal with large city crime trying to get to and from work.

UAL management is just to dumb and misguided to figure those things out.
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preacher1
preacher1 3
If there had been any common sense used at all, it would have stayed in Houston. The center there may have been to small as well but they could have found an outlying location somewhere. MISERABLE COMMUTE is an understatement. LOL. HAPPY THANKSGIVING
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PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
I didn't notice that they mention backup at all, but did mention that all the functions are from the cloud, so they could easily go to another workstation and bring up their apps there.

That kind of modularity makes it easier to move, not just within the center but to another site if necessary.

The data center that runs the ops center might be off site, in te boondocks somewhere. So as long as they have all the equipment in place somewhere else all wired up, they could take the whole operation to that other location with minimal work, apart from scheduling a special charter flight or two to move your people there.
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preacher1
preacher1 1
The article made brief reference to a backup somewhere but did not say where. My guess is that since they are in Chicago, it may be the old United MOC, but I figure it's in the area somewhere
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PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 1
Either former site would work. But they'd have to wire it all up and fit it with equipment to run their current setup. The wiring is what takes up a lot of time I'm setting up.
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joelwiley
joel wiley 3
I'd think they'd want a location reasonably convenient for the existing staff to be able to get to it in a reasonable time. That would lean it toward Chicago area.

Merry Turkey to all.
Lots to be Thankful for.
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PhotoFinish
PhotoFinish 3
Actually a large floor of uninterrupted floorspace is perfect for building a NOC or trading floor. In the alternative, you have to find or build the equivalent somewhere else.

As far as the commute, Chicago has a well developed public transportation system. Workers could commute from trendy neighborhoods (mostly from the north) down to the loop in 5-20 minites without getting behind the wheel of a car (nor even own a car). They could even live in a suburb and take the fast commuter trains to the loop in a 20-45 minute commute (also without a motor vehicle).

The difference between on ops center and a data center is that the computers and other equipment in a data center don't care about location. The massive size of these data centers makes I easier and cheaper to build in rural areas away from developed areas.

In contrast people do care where their job is located. They want things like supermarkets, cute neighborhoods, good schools, homes and such. Throw in some
subways, and an airport or two with a stop, and you're all set.
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RRKen
Kenneth Schmidt 6
Having lived in many metro areas, Chicago's commute is about the best. Reason why is Metra. Most folks who lived near the old Elk Grove center can now take Metra, and leave the car at home. It was always a plus to hop on a train down the block from me, and watch traffic on an expressway dead stopped as I sipped coffee and read my newspaper. Anything but miserable.

And it's cheaper than driving and parking. Last, with 12 different routes into Chicago on Metra, one need not have to move to be close to a suburban depot. Sears Tower is one block from Union Station, nice walk most of the time.

After work, there are hundreds of places to enjoy dinner then commute home later. If you want a few drinks with dinner, no prob, you are not driving. I used to take a train downtown after work, have dinner with friends, then take the train home without having to worry. Central city at it's best.
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