Even for companies that have long ago finished repairing and testing their systems, there still remains an uncertainty about Y2K because of wild cards outside their control. Large-scale risk avoidance is apparent around the country.
Any flight requires layers and layers of systems to work in perfect synchronization.
We're also very conservative. Bruce McConnell, director of the United Nations' International Year 2000 Cooperation Center, said that small computer failures will inevitably occur after Jan. 1 and these may accumulate in the weeks that follow. It's impossible to predict what will happen, but it could be like a lingering fever. The year 2000 problem stems from the long-standing computer programming tradition of using only two digits to represent years. Much of the current calm is a product of the real progress made by businesses and government agencies in fixing the problem, particularly in the United States.