Text Pager for Airport Use?

June 2001

Diane G. (logansigns@deafspot.net) recently came up with what sounds like a great idea to assist people with hearing loss in airports (and other facilities with large waiting areas - bus stations, hospitals, etc.) Her idea is for the airport (or individual airlines) to loan text pagers to people with hearing loss. Messages that are transmitted over the public address system would also be sent to the pagers, ensuring that people with hearing loss are informed of gate changes, flight delays, etc.

Diane is pursuing this idea with her local airport. In the meantime, she is interested in people's thoughts on this idea - pros and cons. Also, if anyone is aware of other approaches to making this information available to people with hearing loss, she would be interested in hearing about that, as well. So if you have any thoughts on this initiative, please let Diane know. (I'd also appreciate being copied so I can pass that info along to our readers.)

Reader Thoughts on Airport Text Pagers

June 2001

A few weeks ago, we printed a story about a reader who is working with her local airport to provide text pagers to passengers with hearing loss. The idea is that messages that are announced over the PA system would also be directed to the pagers, so that the pager users could be informed of what's going on.

We got several reader responses, nearly all of which concerned problems that a pager would have resolved. Here are some of their comments.

One reader noted that he is unable to hear the boarding announcements (which are called by row numbers), and that has resulted in personal embarrassment and delays for other passengers. Access to a pager that announced row numbers would easily solve this problem.

Another reader noted that he currently resorts to what he calls his "grandmother" routine - he finds a kindly looking grandmother type and asks her to relay important announcements to him. It works pretty well - better than relying on the attendants - and seems like a good way to meet fellow passengers. But a text pager would be a more secure way to alleviate this problem.

Another reader recognized the value of the idea, but raised a number of practical concerns. She asked who would do the typing, and how careful they might be. She also pointed out that some announcements are intended only for certain gates, and she wondered how the pager user could avoid being overwhelmed with hordes of irrelevant announcements. She was also concerned that people might forget and board the plane with pager in hand.

All good questions, but I don't see any show stoppers. Hopefully this movement will progress quickly. Thanks to everyone who sent their comments. And if anyone hears more about this (or sees something in operation!) please let me know.