I was sitting at an airport yesterday waiting abour an hour and a half for my flight to board, and I noticed how many (about 1 in 3) flights had to give a "would passenger A Fishbone please make their way to gate 34 where their luggage is about to be offloaded, the plane is ready to depart and you are the final passenger" kind of announcement over the tannoy. It struck me that passengers could be given locatable boarding passes which they keep until they get off the plane at the other end. That way, whenever the boarding staff need to locate those last few passengers in the terminal, they can see them on a map or, better still, Spotlights of Shame™ can be installed (star trek transporter room style) to illuminate these miscreants.-- neilp, Feb 02 2005 If the RFID was handed over at the gate, then it might be re-used. I don't know if they have that much range, but they could possibly be tracked whenever the passenger walks through a door, goes up an escalator, pops into duty free and so on. A local announcement could be made twice in true airport tradition. A local announcement could be made twice in true airport tradition. Maybe the RFID thingy could beep as a reminder, with a map to the gate, and a "you are here" arrow.-- Ling, Feb 02 2005 If airplanes were as eficient and punctual as trains, people would know that they have to be there in time in order to not miss their flight. I haven't seen a single traing waiting for all the passengers to be there; knowing this, passengers are always in time. It's the airline's fault, really.-- Pericles, Feb 02 2005 hmm... something like a 'restaurant pager' system? Could be interesting.-- supercat, Feb 02 2005 hi [Pericles], to be fair to the airlines, they're working in a much less structured situation than a train operator, for instance they have no control of when they're allowed to push back, or take off (that's a civil aviation/air traffic control thing), nor are they allowed to take off with people's luggage without those people (a security thing). P.S. this mainly concerns international flights, where the check-ins are longer.-- neilp, Feb 02 2005 This is the best idea in ages. The restaurant pager thing was what sprang to my mind as well.
//..knowing this, passengers are always on time // [Pericles], do you really believe that? The penalties for missing a train are simply not as serious (nobody loads your baggage onto the train then blows it up at the other end, for example). I am living testimony to the fact that not all passengers turn up on time (no, I don't mean... oh, well, probably).
...oh wait, you're being sarcastic. //punctual as trains//... good, that's very good.-- moomintroll, Feb 02 2005 A bit of perspective: I've never waited for over an hour in a security line to board the train (or been in a security line to board a train, for that matter). The one time it's been my name shouted through the airport I was still standing in the security line (as I had been for the past hour, stressing out over missing my flight) and it was only the pilot himself that rescued me. Also, around here the train's called the StarLate Express (as opposed to the starlight) as it's generally over 3 hours late. Of course I've had much better experiences in other countries, but hadn't imagined Mexico to be an efficient train country.
[neilp], not bad. I can't think of a better system.-- Worldgineer, Feb 02 2005 I was also wondering whether the airlines could keep a running total of when you checked in, earning bonus minutes when you turn up early and losing them if you're late. That way, if I turn up with half an hour to spare, but I've always been really punctual in the past, they'll wave me through.-- neilp, Feb 02 2005 What, then, of those people who check in for their whole journey in one airport and might find themselves having to change planes in airports betwixt home and destination? In other words, could this reasonably operate on a global and interconnected level, as well as on a discrete per-airport system?
Excellent idea, neilp.-- calum, Feb 02 2005 At a basic and cheap level, you could register your cell phone with the airline.-- Worldgineer, Feb 02 2005 Like, why aren't more people doing this?-- reensure, Feb 02 2005 doing what, [reensure] ?-- neilp, Feb 02 2005 Registering their cell phones with the airline ....-- reensure, Feb 03 2005 is that with the intention that if the passenger gets lost in the terminal, the airline can call them ? it's nowhere near as much fun as a Spotlight of Shame™-- neilp, Feb 03 2005 You can track RFID only in the same sense that you can track a bar code - if something goes past a reader, you'll know it. This idea is using it as a magic locator thingy, kind of like Lo-Jack for people; that exists, but it takes a bit more than just RFID.-- jutta, Feb 03 2005 yeah, RFID's probably the wrong starting point for this given the distance-from-reader and the general privacy paranoia whenever anyone uses that FLA. I suppose then that a simple radio transponder/triangulation thing is in order.-- neilp, Feb 03 2005 how about a boarding pass that will explode if not defused by the gate staff ... could keep things ticking over-- stunning, Feb 04 2005 that would certainly cut down on delays, one way or the other [stunning].-- neilp, Feb 04 2005 after another series of delays, I also think it might be handy if these passes had a vibrate/beep function to alert you when it's time for you to start walking to the gate (it could use some logic here, as it knows who is where, so the whole process could be streamlined).-- neilp, Apr 02 2005 They have something very similar in pubs for when you order food - except you don't get the 'Spotlight of Shame - which i'd like to see (+)-- gorjabuble, Jul 17 2005 random, halfbakery