Thoughts while at an airport gate listening to PA announcements… The computer knows who has checked in. The computer knows who has gone through the gate. Why not subtract the latter set from the former and send out text messages, especially to those who checked bags, asking people to come to the gate? Should work better than a PA, no?
Either combine with video data from the gate so that you don’t spam people who are waiting in line. or have the process kicked off by the gate agent (if they can reach for the PA system, they can select an option on their computer to do this, right?).
Readers: What do you think? Most people can get text messages when they’re in an airport, right?
“Should work better than a PA, no?”
It might work better than a PA for people who get the text message but they’d probably still have to use the PA anyway (even for people they sent text messages to).
Some people might still being changed for text messages. So, you’d still need some alternative for people who could get texts but don’t want to.
Getting feedback from the gate computer would require expensive programming.
I currently get text messages (from some airlines) about flight information. They could just SPAM people anyway (that would be cheaper than doing the programming tying into the gate information).
It would be helpful. The text message could also trigger some kind of navigation system that will guide the person to the gate and tell how much time is required to get there.
I presume lots of passengers, particularly older ones, do not have smartphones. And, lots of folks don’t carry one if they’re traveling internationally. But maybe there are so few that it wouldn’t matter. However, can I hear a text “ping” better than a PA announcement? definitely not, especially in a noisy environment like an airport.
What incentive do they have to implement such a system (which, as others have already pointed out, could only be supplemental to the existing system, since not everybody has a device which can receive text messages)? People who miss flights due to their own issues don’t get refunds, and the lighter/less crowded the plane, the better.
This would be quite easy for Southwest, with ranked boarding.
With other airlines, they could wait until the group number is passed, but it would be a guessing game since some with assigned seating prefer to board last.
What you propose is a solution in search of a problem. How about people just act responsibly? Punctuality is a choice, not a condition caused by a lack of technology.
Also, the very same people who can’t be bothered to check the time on their phone, won’t check their text messages. Some people will come to rely on your new system, and when it fails, or someones phone doesn’t have reception, they’ll blame it on the airline.
if you use an airline app, the push notifications essentially do this.
There’s all kinds of other people on their first airplane ride flying to see their sister Vivian Marie in Florida before she passes that don’t even know what a text message is. Even if they do get it, some older people can’t read it unless they’ve got their reading glasses on and they don’t walk around the terminal with them on (if they even remembered to take them).
I think audible announcements are here to stay. How else will people know when to cluster like a giant swarm of bees around the boarding gate when they are clearly in 42D, Zone 5?
Folks: This isn’t necessarily a replacement for the PA, but a targeted supplement.
Folks who want to leave the unworthy behind: The idea of punishing those who are distracted sounds great, but if someone has checked a bag and then doesn’t get on the plane, the flight will be delayed while the ramp workers open the cargo door, find the corresponding bag, and remove it from the plane.
I fly JetBlue most of the time and their app is pretty good, it checks me in, acts as boarding pass, and it pings me when there’s delays, change of gate, etc. When I book a ticket I give them my phone number, and they do send me texts about flight status as well (helpful if the app is not running). But I don’t actually know if it checks the list of boarded passengers and sets off an alarm to tell me I’m about to miss my flight if I haven’t boarded yet.
By the time the agent is calling no-shows, it is people who will never show that are absent (delayed on connecting flights, overslept, traffic, etc.) the announcements are a formality before cancelling the priority and boarding standby passengers. The announcement may jog someone who is just daydreaming but it is rare. It also covers their ass when a runner shows up and his/her seat has been reassigned.