NEW AIR AMS USERS WANT TEST BEFORE UPGRADE

NEW AIR AMS USERS WANT TEST BEFORE UPGRADE    While U.S. Customs works out its problems with the upgrade to its Air Automated Manifest System, new users of the system are losing patience.
   The agency attempted to implement long-awaited upgrades in Air AMS during the weekend of Feb. 17-18, but had to pull back at the last minute when a problem was discovered in the program.
   The air-cargo industry was disappointed. New users that signed onto the system in recent months have been prevented from testing Air AMS while Customs fixes the problem with the upgrade.
   “We hope this current delay could be used as a window of opportunity to allow the backlog of new users to come on line with the existing system,” said Steven R. Graham, vice president of Micron Software Services, a Miami-based Air AMS software developer for numerous airlines and deconsolidators.
   Customs had considered re-installing the Air AMS upgrade during the weekend of March 17-18, but backed off and said it would set another implementation date at a later time.
   “We’re disappointed by the delay in the upgrade, but we obviously want the implementation to be successful,” Graham said.