As long as airports will have crappy sound systems capped with bad (TV announcements) Displays plus Airlines not having standardized boarding systems, it will be a gong show.

It would be lot easier if they had text screens at each gate I always feel.

ABZ used to have a lady who gabbled every announcement at warp speed 9 - No-one understood a word.

Guiding passengers thrue boarding might be a great use of mobile phones and augmented reality. Including live guidance to empty bins for carry on stowage.

I have seen some airline apps that offer guidance to the gate - I'll bet some will still pretend that it didn't work and they should not have been offloaded!

The next thing would be to beam passenger names or initials right onto the headrest to speed up boarding.

In this forum, we have long mourned the passing pf the 'flik-flak' boards. They were large, readible from far away and, each update brought a cascade of noise - so folks knew that there was an update.

But, vertical monitors are difficult to see from a distance and do not announce any change but they are cheaper - so of course they now dominate. If they would like people at the gate on time, perhaps have a 'flik-flak' board. I think it was an italian design.

I flew from HKG to BKK - first business trip in 3 years. Plane was rammed. Multiple nationalities. Lo & behold as boarding time came near a queue snaked its way around the gate area and people boarded pretty much as and when they wanted. I sat down and watched. When I boarded of course the seats by me were already taken & they just had to move so I could take my window seat. I don't know what the rush is - same when we land and everyone wants to get up straight away, though they can't get off anyway.

And people that need assistance boarding should be boarded last not first

A similar phenomenon occurs in railway station car parks and outside schools, I have found.

Indeed, no other school pupil or parent is to be given any space, time or consideration ... my local crematorium has two schools in the same road (the crem was there first) and I have seen funeral directors arguing with 4x4s blocking the hearse and limousine.

I see we did indeed discuss the Solari 'Flik-Flak' boards.
PPruNe archive

Is the problem the increased amount of hand baggage? Boarding times have increased over the years as has the space on overhead lockers. Is this linked? Should airlines be looking to limit overhead bin space to 80%? In my experience U.S. airlines load by status so that the frequent flyers get the storage space. This is may be correct from a commercial vantage, operationally it is terrible. Can anyone tell me what the cost is of an aircraft on the gate not going anywhere? In the U.S. crew are paid by the flight hour and the only fuel cost is ground power so maybe not that high. European low cost airlines like boarding from the front & rear, in U.S. gate use is almost universal. Has anyone worked out if it might be cost effective to have two jetties for narrow bodied aircraft? I'm sure that it is possible though it might need a lot of rebuilding. Schiphol has multiple jetties for wide bodied aircraft at some piers with some being able to access doors further down the fuselage.

I doubt the two are related.

Speaking as someone old enough to remember when airliners had hat-racks rather than lockers, I don't recall boarding being particularly faster in those days.

Talking of hat racks ...
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....66c06be3d1.jpg

#33
My daughter, then aged 7 months, flew 'sleeper class' in a similar air cot when we flew home from Changi in a VC10 in 1971. She had a rather more comfy ride than her parents and siblings.
As an aside, I wonder if anybody at BZN found my son's toy car that he had dropped on the floor and was last heard of doing about 200+ knots toward to rear of the cabin during takeoff?

Given that the aircraft using those baby hammocks were travelling at lower (= bumpier) altitudes - it makes you wonder what happened if the turbulence made the baby puke too much ... :sad:

I loved that sound. Maybe they can bring the sound back. BBC had a story when production ended.

But I understand they were a sod to maintain

For anyone who's feeling nostalgic about the Solari boards, there are a few simulators for PC (with realistic sound effects) available on the Net.

I was coming back from a conference in Edinburgh on EasyJet in the days when there was no seat allocation. When I arrived at the gate (right down at the end of the terminal)all the seating was full, so I stood about 10 feet from the desk, in the middle of the floor, and got out a book to read. A little later, I looked around and an orderly queue had formed behind me. Row 1 first and only time!

I worked for a German co in the mid 80’s when we were doing the Birmingham new street upgrade. I had the delightful task of coding all the individual flaps if irc there were 60 flaps on each panel each double sided. And again iirc 10 panel high. Each letter was a certain witdth (points) and no computer to work the totals out. So all on paper & pencil and a couple of rubbers.

The only station I remember is Grange-over-Sands which caused lot of problem!

mike