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Whiteboards used after Gatwick flight information screens fail

bbc.com

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Re: Whiteboards used after Gatwick flight information screens fail

#51

Post by mikepurvis »

kingbirdy wrote: post #42
huangc10 wrote: post #37

Yeh, whiteboard works but another more technical solution could be roll out a TV stand and hook up the TV to a laptop via HDMI and update schedule live through a shared doc (Google docs?). I mean, whatever works right...

That requires them to have a surplus of portable TVs and laptops, which I don't see why they'd have (and would be much more expensive to buy as backup than the white boards)

Also, the full-manual solution of having whiteboards on standby covers a much broader spectrum of failures.

Re: Whiteboards used after Gatwick flight information screens fail

#53

Post by bhhaskin »

tomc1985 wrote: post #38
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> why they have no fallback strategies They do. It's the whiteboards. Whiteboards are cheap, resilient and robust. Exactly what one wants for a backup.

Well you also need to have people run around and update them.

Whats wrong with that? It seems to have worked. Sure not ideal, but better than canceling flights and shutting down the airport.

Re: Whiteboards used after Gatwick flight information screens fail

#54

Post by the_mitsuhiko »

ig1 wrote: post #36
the_mitsuhiko wrote: post #16

If only London airports could print the gates on the tickets. But I guess they would miss out on that sweet revenue from consumption.

At high-volume airports gates aren't assigned until the plane has arrived from it's inbound flight which is often Checkin generally opens 24 hours prior to departure (some airlines now allow >7 days prior) - hence for the vast majority of passengers the gate is unavailable as ticket issuance time. Most airports and airlines let you get gate information fro their websites/apps as well though..

I have a flight i take somewhat regularly at Heathrow. I think I only once did not find it at A20 and then it was around the corner.

Re: Whiteboards used after Gatwick flight information screens fail

#55

Post by Reason077 »

cnorthwood wrote: post #48
duxup wrote: post #45

Distantly related but when I was in Europe decades ago I was at a train station where they had a massive split-flap display ( I want to say at a couple places ). I loved watching it update. Aesthetically it was so much better than big super bright screens.

What you're looking for is called a Solari Board, there's some mesmerising videos of them around, and a few places still have them!

The main international terminal at Auckland airport still had a huge Solari board until just a few years ago (~2012).

Sadly, they had to go digital in the end due to spare parts becoming difficult to source.

According to Wikipedia, there are still some airports (eg Frankfurt) and many rail stations that still have them in active service.

Re: Whiteboards used after Gatwick flight information screens fail

#56

Post by antidesitter »

bhhaskin wrote: post #53
tomc1985 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well you also need to have people run around and update them.

Whats wrong with that? It seems to have worked. Sure not ideal, but better than canceling flights and shutting down the airport.

Obviously it’s better than shutting down the airport. But is it better than the alternatives Someone1234 proposed? That was the question.

Re: Whiteboards used after Gatwick flight information screens fail

#57

Post by kalleboo »

Reason077 wrote: post #50
BillinghamJ wrote: post #18

Seems like a pretty big success to me. They had a contingency plan and it was implemented successfully. No cancelled flights and minimal delays - good job.

Presumably it helps that many (most?) travellers will be using the airline's apps these days, which provide info such as boarding times and gate updates.

In my experience, all the apps (airport, airline, travel apps, even Apple Wallet e-tickets) all have unreliable or heavily delayed gate information. Does anyone really rely on them?

Re: Whiteboards used after Gatwick flight information screens fail

#58

Post by dhimes »

craftyguy wrote: post #34
the_mitsuhiko wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s the exception and not the rule and when it changes it’s typically just around the corner and you can do show infos on the old gate.

I've found that when the gate is printed on the ticket, it is rarely correct. Even more so for connecting flights. So in the end, I still have to look at screens until I am actually at the gate.

I've found this too. The terminal usually stays the same because they are contracted to specific airlines, but the gate is fluid. For example, my wife is flying home today and her arrival gate was only announced a couple of hours ago (she's taking off just about now).

Re: Whiteboards used after Gatwick flight information screens fail

#59

Post by heartbreak »

gaius wrote: post #10
MBCook wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems so strange that they wouldn’t have a redundant link (like the various options you suggested) or at least fall back to easily available public data (flight information sites) that would at least help some.

Perhaps they could have gone with a connectivity vendor with an extensive 4G network for backup if the (inexplicably) non-redundant fixed line was cut.

I used to work for a major digital signage company and we had a huge contract with Verizon for cellular fallback at every site.

Re: Whiteboards used after Gatwick flight information screens fail

#60

Post by icebraining »

duxup wrote: post #49
cnorthwood wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you're looking for is called a Solari Board, there's some mesmerising videos of them around, and a few places still have them!

I need one for my house .... maybe put the weather on it and have a button to cycle it.

You're in luck! https://hackaday.com/2018/08/18/custom-split-flap-display-is...
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