26 million of what, though? I don't recall seeing that mentioned in the article. Are we talking 5%, 10%, 35%? What is an acceptable failure rate? Us programmers aren't perfect, either. Or course, it's not justification, but it would sure help put things in perspective.

A family member of mine worked for an airline on the ground post 9/11 and, barring a major issue at the departing airport, there weren't very many problems. The worst circumstances were short layovers (which usually arrived on the next flight and sent to their address) or reroutes to the wrong destination (which this person took the fall for, obviously, as it was all in their control).