Pax speaking
vanHorck
Then on arrival at the gate invariably the information is not available. Why not from an hour before the flight post something like:
flight is due to depart on time
or
flight is due to depart .... min late due to .........
And ensuring through an information SYSTEM that this information is honest and complete and accurate
I suggest that a goodly part of this is because there is no single and consistent trail of information available.
The carrier may have sub-contracted large parts of their operation to third parties and airports certainly have. Whilst contracts and procedures state that each party will report back as they complete/fail each requirement - there is still no single point of control. There is no one system or individual looking out for the trail of information to pax:
- on web or via SMS to their mobiles
- in queue at check-in
- waiting in departure lounges (all types) with possible updates via SMS
- at the gate
Each of those points is a different group of people, with only a notional single point of control. Lastly, most of the process' and systems work on the basis that they WILL work and only to report exceptions when they DON'T.
Thus the people who might send out corrective information are only sent details when there is a failure but they may just get a simple msg that a particular contractor or staff member reports that a delay has occurred. They will not not necessarily know how or why.
How to fix? V-e-r-y difficult, because the current way of doing things has built up over the past 20 years and is now accepted practice. At large airports, there is almost zero chance of making a joined-up chain of information - unless you have lots of money.