Airports lag in their adoption of mobile technology, according to a traveler survey.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Survey finds traveler dissatisfaction with mobile services at airports
- Many airports do not offer free Wi-Fi; mobile signals are sometimes spotty
- Author: Airports should create mobile-friendly websites
- Travelers surveyed also want push alerts for gate changes
Editor's note: Editor's
note: Amy Gahran writes about mobile tech for CNN.com. She is a writer
and media consultant based in Boulder, Colorado whose blog, Contentious.com, explores how people communicate in the online age.(CNN) -- Mobile technology is critical at the airport.
Yet, a new survey shows
that most travelers (58%) are not satisfied with airport Wi-Fi. And
beyond that, airports are missing opportunities to offer vital mobile
services that could vastly improve travelers' experiences while they're
in transit.
This 2,700-person survey was conducted earlier this year by FlightView,
which makes a popular app that provides flight and airport information.
The survey shows mobile devices frequently accompany travelers: Four
out of five airport travelers use a smartphone, one-third use tablets
and one-fifth use e-readers.
Surprisingly, fewer than
one in five travelers reported using a laptop computer at the airport.
FlightView predicts that by next year tablets will outnumber laptops at
the airport.
As a frequent traveler,
I'm often frustrated by how little my smartphone and Macbook Air can
help me at the airport. Sometimes it seems like the airports and
airlines want to thwart me.
Some airports charge fees
through third-party providers (like Boingo.com or AT&T) simply to
get Wi-Fi access -- and entering my credit card number over an open
Wi-Fi network makes me shudder.
Citing a recent New York Times story,
FlightView reports: "Many airports, including Denver, Las Vegas and San
Francisco, are actually choosing customer satisfaction over ancillary
revenue opportunities -- by providing airport visitors with free Wi-Fi
access."
Once you manage to get on
the airport Wi-Fi, access is often spotty and slow. Many airports force
travelers to sit through a video commercial or other ads before they
will let you access the Internet. Worse, some airports insist on placing
a "frame" around your Web browser window with airport-related ads,
limiting valuable screen real estate. That's annoying on a laptop; it's
intolerable on a small cell phone screen.
Speaking of cell phones,
airports are huge facilities that, I've found, often have cell phone
"dead zones" -- even for major carriers like Verizon. I'm surprised that
wireless carriers don't seem to be making a concerted effort to ensure
good data network coverage at airports, especially at airports with
lousy, unreliable, or paid Wi-Fi access. Imagine the effectiveness of
their ads displayed in those locations!
One of the main things
travelers want information about is the airport itself. Unfortunately,
FlightView estimates that only half of U.S. airports currently have
mobile-friendly websites. When your plane's about to board and you're
trying desperately to find which gate your flight was switched to
(because the announcement over the public address system was, of course,
unintelligible), that's not when you want to be pinching, zooming, and
scrolling on your phone.
What do mobile users
want at the airport? According to Flightview, the overwhelming majority
(94%) want flight status and gate information pushed promptly to their
phones. Also, nearly three-fourths want boarding alerts sent to their
mobile device. Nearly 40% would like mobile coupons for restaurants and
shops on the terminal and concourses, and about 30% would like
information on easily accessible food and beverages.
More than one-third of
travelers also want to be able to book ground transportation via mobile,
and nearly as many would like to use their mobile devices to share
flight information easily via social media, text and e-mail, the survey
found.
Nearly two-thirds of
travelers told FlightView that they would value mobile access to walking
directions from to their departure gate, especially when changing
planes on a connecting flight. Demand for this service is highest among
leisure travelers (71%), who are often less familiar with the layout of
the airport.
Personally, I'd also
appreciate estimates on the time it will take to walk to my next gate.
At Chicago O'Hare, especially, I've ended up jogging for the better part
of a mile, carry-on bag in tow, on more than one occasion.
The opinions expressed in this post are solely those of Amy Gahran.
اليوم في 11:08 am من طرف nadaroyal
موضوع: Opinion: Airport Wi-Fi and mobile services are lacking 
