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Why are "Arrivals" displayed, along side the more important "Departures," within the secure areas in airport terminals? (By that I mean in the public areas that you need a boarding pass to get to, and areas that are within the secure side of the security station.) [Edit: I understand the need for "Departures." I'm asking about the "Arrivals" list.]
I was in a somewhat large international airport recently and I noticed that 1/2 of all the monitors were dedicated to displaying the flight "Arrivals." That seemed like a lot of monitors wasted that could otherwise be displaying the "Departures" information, that everybody was crowded around.
I totally understand the necessity for "Arrivals" list on the other side of security -- for example near the baggage claim -- where it would be useful for somebody picking others up from an airport. But why on Earth would it be useful for somebody on the secure side?
I had a about an hour and a half layover, so I decided to ask around: shopkeepers, bartenders, other passengers, airline employees, and anyone who didn't ignore me or run away. Nobody seemed to know the answer. It's strange, because when they started to answer they seemed as if the answer was obvious, and that they certainly knew it, but then they inevitably stopped themselves, and said, "..Oh yeah. I guess I would be looking at the 'Departures' then. Hmm. Well, I don't know."
I did learn that airline employees do not rely on the publicly displayed "Arrivals" and "Departures" to do their job. They get the information from elsewhere. As a matter of fact, they are the ones who ultimately update the information that gets put on the "Arrivals" and "Departures" publicly displayed lists. So these publicly displayed lists are for the passengers, not the employees.
I was fortunate enough to sit right next to an off-duty flight attendant on my connecting flight. Based on her testimony, I can come up with about two scenarios where the information might be useful:
Scenario 1:
[Edit: I suppose the "Arrivals" list might also be useful if you were the first to arrive and you discovered that the Cancun flight was cancelled. That way you have a hook to meet up with the other party and make other plans. Well, assuming you didn't check any bags. If the flight was cancelled, you likely might have to recheck you bags, and in which case you might as well meet in the baggage claim anyway.]
Scenario 2:
Can you think of any other common scenarios that would justify 1/2 of these monitors dedicated to "Arrivals"?
I was in a somewhat large international airport recently and I noticed that 1/2 of all the monitors were dedicated to displaying the flight "Arrivals." That seemed like a lot of monitors wasted that could otherwise be displaying the "Departures" information, that everybody was crowded around.
I totally understand the necessity for "Arrivals" list on the other side of security -- for example near the baggage claim -- where it would be useful for somebody picking others up from an airport. But why on Earth would it be useful for somebody on the secure side?
I had a about an hour and a half layover, so I decided to ask around: shopkeepers, bartenders, other passengers, airline employees, and anyone who didn't ignore me or run away. Nobody seemed to know the answer. It's strange, because when they started to answer they seemed as if the answer was obvious, and that they certainly knew it, but then they inevitably stopped themselves, and said, "..Oh yeah. I guess I would be looking at the 'Departures' then. Hmm. Well, I don't know."
I did learn that airline employees do not rely on the publicly displayed "Arrivals" and "Departures" to do their job. They get the information from elsewhere. As a matter of fact, they are the ones who ultimately update the information that gets put on the "Arrivals" and "Departures" publicly displayed lists. So these publicly displayed lists are for the passengers, not the employees.
I was fortunate enough to sit right next to an off-duty flight attendant on my connecting flight. Based on her testimony, I can come up with about two scenarios where the information might be useful:
Scenario 1:
- You are flying from Omaha to Cancun, but have a layover in Denver where you will meet up with another party coming from Wichita. You and your other party plan to meet at the Denver airport where you both have a layover, and then fly together on the same flight to Cancun.
- And you have a very long layover in the Denver airport, such that the flight to Cancun has not yet been assigned a gate.
- And the first leg of your flight does not arrive simultaneously with the other party's flight (otherwise by the time you de-board the plane and check the monitors, both of your "arriving" flights would have been removed from the list since both flights have already arrived."
[Edit: I suppose the "Arrivals" list might also be useful if you were the first to arrive and you discovered that the Cancun flight was cancelled. That way you have a hook to meet up with the other party and make other plans. Well, assuming you didn't check any bags. If the flight was cancelled, you likely might have to recheck you bags, and in which case you might as well meet in the baggage claim anyway.]
Scenario 2:
- You are meeting up with a secret lover. You both pick flights such that you'll both have layovers in the same airport terminal. The "Arrivals" list will allow you to find your amor without relying on your cell-phone, thus you don't have to worry about cell-phone records which can be checked by another.
- You both lead very busy lives and have to get on connecting flights soon after because you are both very busy (otherwise you could just meet in baggage claim and then go to a hotel or something -- but you don't have time for that.)
Can you think of any other common scenarios that would justify 1/2 of these monitors dedicated to "Arrivals"?
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