The Southwest Airlines Co. meltdown that stranded thousands of passengers during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year exposed a major industry shortcoming: crew-scheduling technology that was largely built for a bygone era and is due for a major overhaul.
Southwest relies on crew-assignment software called SkySolver, an off-the-shelf application that it has customized and updated, but that is nearing the end of its life, according to the airline. The program was developed decades ago and is now owned by General Electric Co.
