In this age of more or less fully network connected devices, this kind of a setup seems archaic in the extreme, probably likely to be some hangover from the 70s or 80s.
Airline systems are some of the oldest computing architectures in use.
The Sabre reservation system was created by IBM for American Airlines in the 1950s — when a computer filled an entire building floor and was built out of vacuum tubes — and remains actively used today by multiple airlines. The programming language has been switched several times over the past 60+ years, but essential compatibility remains.
I can't remember where I read this and I can't find a cite right away, but I bet someone can confirm-or-correct me: the 6-letter reservation code for your flight? That used to be an explicit pointer of memory in oldold Sabre.
Apparently Southwest is one of the biggest offenders in the airline industry when it comes to not investing in their IT infrastructure. You can only get away with that sort of debt for so long.
I knew someone who was working on this, my understanding was technology infrastructure was a huge blocker to their plans for international flights. The scheduling system required many hours of downtime every night to process. It effectively ran from the moment the last airport on the west coast closed to start of operations next day east coast and it was just getting longer.
If that's true, and I have no reason to doubt it, the blame will fall squarely on the team who were asking for IT investment, and not the leadership who said no to them.
I have a relative that worked in the IT department at SW. Can't remember the details but he said some main parts of their scheduling software were written in the 60's (or maybe even 50's). And it is still running.
Edit: Ok reading comments jogged my memory. It was something to do with the 'Sabre' system which was from the 1950's.
This is true but also true for AA and several other airlines, for reservations and more but not crew scheduling. Sabre is old, huge, and complicated, but is not at fault here.
They run on a specialized version of Sabre that doesn't work the same as the other airlines on Sabre (AA, etc.) which is one reason you don't get SWA flights in Orbitz, etc.
The airline industry is one of the most competitive in the country. You succeed by ruthlessly cutting costs and offering tickets for $5 less than your competitors. And that’s how we end up with software from the 80s
The Sabre reservation system was created by IBM for American Airlines in the 1950s — when a computer filled an entire building floor and was built out of vacuum tubes — and remains actively used today by multiple airlines. The programming language has been switched several times over the past 60+ years, but essential compatibility remains.