Well the mobile phone would be ok as well. If they woulkd have an SMS service.
Tommy

a customer service improvement via short radio communications would work i guess...or i missed some issues?

The biggest problem I see is how to display it. You need a really big board to display all connection info. If you scroll it past on the small monitors available onboard now, you'd inevitably have a lot of frustration among passengers who just missed seeing their info. From a customer service standpoint, the airlines would rather suffer the unhappiness of the few customers who had tight connections than set up a tense frustrated environment on every plane as it landed.

I agree that it's a really good idea to get this info out. You just need to do it in a very user-friendly way.

Thanks for the comments from Micco, Saigon and Vanhees. I will teke your comments into account and see what adaptations I can come up with. If you have further ideas on how this can be done, they would be greatly appreciated. I'll try posting some adaptations taking your critiques into account within the next few days.

One possible way to implement this would be to mount a very big screen on a truck and shadow the airplane as it approached the terminal. This would solve the problem of limited screen size within the cabin, it wouldn't require the airlines to do anything, and could basically be operated either by the airport or by a third-party vendor.

If it was a third-party contractor, it could be ad supported via banners on the display screen or truck. Obviously this isn't really ideal from the standpoint of getting the info to the people, but it means it could be done independently without requiring new tech within the planes or cooperation of the airlines. Just cooperation/permission from the airport to operate the vehicle on the tarmac.

How about above the door as you enter the airport/get off the plane? By the luggage carousel? Anywhere closer than the main airport lobby...? Would be a little slower than putting it on the aircraft itself but much easier to implement.

I feel your pain. I've been mis-directed several times in airports.

Vanhees is right! A mobile phone could work even better. Would it be possible to send a SMS with your connecting flight # to the airport's system, which can then respond with your gate and departure time?

The big monitor in the hallways... seem to do the trick.. for me

]V[oogy

I have no doubt this would be handy if accessible via mobile phone (like vanhees suggested, and I'd offer mini browser surfable too). Is there ANY WAY to do this without the involvement of the airport? I mean to scale it, for sure you want their involvement. But to test... some small scale feasibility study... these data feeds aren't public anywhere are they? Online? Airline channel on TV (just shows arrival / departure times right)?

So long as arrival gate and baggage drop and passenger flight data can be consolidated, I'd expect mini browser surfing and SMS is easy. The question is evaluating adoption stats, and being able to demonstrate to airports (or airlines) that people will use this service if it is offered. Then they'll probably fund its development.

All you have to do is read the signs in the airport, it isn't that complicated. Besides, most airplanes do not have screens in every seat. Your ticket tells you the gate, and the signs tell you the terminal.

Some airlines already transmit connecting flight information pertinent to the passengers on-board to the aircraft as it approaches the gate. Those announcements the stewardess makes aren't random, they match with passengers on the plane.

If you sit in your assigned seat, there's no reason this couldn't hit your seatback display, or even the AirPhone.... it's a little software, but if you fly in the US, trust me when I say that they're already tracking you anyway.

I don't see a way to monetize this, it's just an expense for development and deployment, and a small customer service differential for the airlines that choose to use it or not.

I don't see the usefulness of this to the airline -- there's no additional profit in it. From a mobile perspective the idea would probably work better, but once again, there's very little profit potential.

SMS flight information is available at many airports including Gatwick:
http://www.gatwickai...M200000357e120a____/
I have come across this information on WAP sites also.

yes sounds good, but it would make customers jobs much easier

Thanks for all your comments. I like the option of the cell phone sms as an alternative to my idea. Some commented that a message board upon entry into the terminal from the plane should suffice. The problem is that in many airports such as those with more than one terminal, only the departure information for the arrival terminal is displayed - as was the case when I recently travelled through Heathrow. With regard to finding a financial advantage for the airport to offer such a service either on the onboard screen displays or by SMS as has been suggested, does anyone have any ideas about how advertising for stores in the terminal might pay for this. Your comments would be welcome.

I think you have a great idea, and if it were on the cell phones, I think every traveler would use it.

Good idea, though it would be nice if it was mobile based so you can get it anywhere. (Check if your flight was canceled or delayed before you leave for the airport)

I agree with noniesaft - if you submitted your flight number and then terminal, gate etc details were sent by SMS - I could envisage this being used to update passengers on delays, gate or teminal changes, security info, emergency instructions, etc. In large airports like Palma, Majorca, charter flights often seem to have lots of calls for individual passengers who have nott turned up to board on time, especially when a flight has been delayed, as they are somewhere else in the airport having a meal or something. The SMS messages might mean they don't miss the boarding announcements. Could also be useful to have language options to the messages. How do deaf people hear announcements? A vibrating mobile might be a useful device.

Hughgoh, ccozad, fullmentaljacket, Mcdowell, Vanhees and nooniesaft. Many thanks for all your additional ideas and encouraging suggestions. I am certainly no techy and do not know how the functionality of such info can be automated onto passengers' cell phones other than possibly with their own initiative by calling an air terminal number and submitting their flt reservation number in the same way that most self check in kiosks do. Can any of you now help me out as to a layman's explanation as to get from here to something useable. One of the other issues that came up in the discussion above was that of how an airport could be encouraged to adopt such as system if there wasn't any money in it for them. I had previously responded that maybe in- terminal advertisers could pay for the service. However, fullmentaljacket has provided another idea with regard to contacting passengers who are late at the departure gate. Delaying a flight is costly, as is removing and rerouting the baggage of a passenger who is in the terminal but has missed his flight. The service might easily pay for itself just in avoiding such delays. Besides that, it is just good customer service.

Any suggestions or offers of assistance from the more technically minded to operationalise the concept would be greatly appreciated. Although I am relatively new to cambrian house, I believe the thrust behind it is to leverage off each others' ideas and capabilities to create some marketable business enterprise. Two heads are normally better than one and three even moreso. If this idea has potential value for me, I am more than willing to share its value with those who are willing to help with the more technical aspects to try getting it off the ground. Please let me know if you are capable and willing to help.

Hello, brand new here...

What if you made a small LED type device (near small calculator size)...Flight info and airport maps uploaded to device at check-in/ticket counters or via the web... A map of the airport can be displayed with gate and other amenities of the airport displayed.

The display would have a side bar where you can pick display of resturaunts/lounges/smoking areas/bathrooms/baggage/etc.. Maybe even menu uploads...Flash/viberate when boarding starts...Also the device can be active and provide a signal back to the gate - so if you are in the airport, you can be located (some security/privacy issues here but....).

Basic idea of how I would consider it is set up a separate, wireless network in the airport that links into a centralized corporate network. The corporate network could then link in the airport schedules/airline flight info/etc.. This might alleviate some of the privacy issue of tracking as well since your company's people would be able to tell the gate or airport people where you are but within a standard policy (ie boarding time and you are at least 5 gates away)...

Now here is a teaser! Think of how you can use this in amusement parks, museums, zoos, shopping malls, stadiums, cruise ships, beach boardwalks (make a rugged version), tourist areas,etc... A map of the area, interest items highlighted, child tracker (ie all family members that have a device can see all other family members), vendor ads flash when your near something or if the user signifies (via corporate web profile a interest in certain things) a desire to know about "cotton candy stands, mcdonalds resturaunts,etc.."

Maybe allow the user to customize the device further so sports or other tickers track along the bottom..Say you are at the zoo when your favorite team is playing, you might miss the actual game but can still keep up on the score..How many of you have seen people checkin cell phones or calling friends to find out a score...Or news event..

Maybe even allow the police/fire department/location authorities access into the system in case of an emergency (fire in the mall - map displays emergency exit paths?)

Hope that helps...

Jim

"Which ideas make you money? Only the ones that you know about!"

Thanks for the additional ideas Jim. I would like to take one step at a time however. Can anyone help with the sms setup for airports to start? Maybe if this works and is marketable we can expand into Jim's ideas.

@hro_Jim.. i guess you got a better idea..an interactive info (LED) board for customer i different public service areas you mention! Submit this one..i intend to work with you! =)

Saigon,
please explain how you would do this

Voooooh... it took time to read all those comments. Anyways, a nice idea

needs work

I've been on flights where the pilot or crew will announce the gates for connecting flights before getting to the gate - but these are usually only for flights operated by the same airline. I suppose the easiest way maybe to encourage the pilots to do more. At some airports, there is staff to meet people arriving to direct them to the proper gate for connecting flights.

As there are multiple solutions - some easier, some less reliable, I think building an SMS system would be a big challenge, especially considering how to generate revenue. Maybe an SMS system would be less costly than staffing gates, but certainly not as inexpensive as simply having the pilot or crew announce gates before arriving. But what is the incentive here for pilot and crew? I know that when my flight is late and the connecting flights are waiting, they have an incentive to get passengers to the right gate asap. Otherwise, it's one of those non-revenue-generating services that many airlines won't bother to do :-(

Manchester Airport (UK) already has an SMS service for flight information, I'm sure other airports have similar

Schiphol Airport (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) is already offering these services. Check out schiphol.nl.

I think that the airlines' IT teams could do this in a heartbeat. It seems like it would be difficault for an outside company to break into.

wings1111, the basic idea behind my mobile suggestion would be to text your flight number to a number and the flight info would be returned. The other option would be to access a website tailored to mobile devices that would have a similar type of interface of entering your flight number. Perhaps even a search mechanism based on airline etc.

The biggest hurdle I can see would be getting the information from the airport. They already have it in electronic form (that is how it is displayed on the TV screens) but they may be leery to have anyone accessing their system. You would have to work with them as a service provider to gain access to their data.

If you can figure out a way to get the flight information, I would be happy to contribute to a mobile based framework for accessing that information.

ccozad

Thanks for the offer. I will see what I can do with the airlines over the next week of two and let you know.

Is there a way to "translate" an RSS feed post to a SMS or MMS?

If yes, the GDSs, DCS systems or Airport IT systems could use RSS feeds to forward:
- operational flight information (terminals, delays, ...)
- gates information using this open standard.
- etc
.. using only one open web standard and then it's up to the different subscribers to display the RSS feed. I mean for instance a Travel Agency reservation tool connected to the Net, an airport website, any mobile phone (if a tool which converts RSS feeds to SMS/MMS exists)...

Nicolas