Nearly missed flight due to no info screen update
Nearly missed my flight yesterday (FR2905 – MLA – BRU) because there are no calls in the business lounge and the info screens were never updated to say it was boarding. By the time the screens updated the flight was closed. I ran to the gate and just managed to board. They had to ask the captains permission to take an extra passenger and already had my luggage out of the hold. Suffice to say I was not happy.
Also I left my phone on charge in the lounge in my panic – fortunately someone handed it in and I’ll pick it up when I get back – so a week away on business with no smart phone.
Question I have as an IT applications guy is; how can the gate staff start boarding a flight without updating the status? I would have thought the gate staff would have had to set the flight to boarding in order to start scanning boarding passes, at which point the info screens would be updated? In this case the screens went straight from please wait to close in a matter of seconds. Seems to me a step was missed by the gate staff or, are all these systems not as integrated as we think? Anyone know these systems?