Fear of millennium flying

FOUR IN TEN chief executives will not fly on 1 January 2000 because of millennium bug fears, but 98 per cent believe their own computer systems will be ready for the date change. A survey released today also shows that a quarter of chief executives believe some companies could go bust as a result of computer problems.

Four in five respondents thought UK industry as a whole would be ready but only a half had put contingency plans in place themselves. The survey, by Executives on Assignment, showed that executives were most worried about potential systems failures in production and accounting. Only a fifth of those questioned thought the Government's millennium bug awareness programme was good while a third rated it poor or inadequate.