We have all heard the almost continuous “Final Call” boarding announcements for flights at airports. There is never a moment of silence. The cacophony goes on and on. What is even more irritating are the highly specific calls for certain individuals to board the aircraft. The last time I was in Delhi, I heard the same name being called out in 6 successive announcements in English and Hindi. At Bangkok airport, an Indigo representative was busy scouring the airport for a few passengers who were to be on the Delhi flight and were busy browsing the Internet on the free kiosks!

I thought about a possible alternative. Why not send SMS alerts to people? AFter all, pretty much everyone travels with a working mobile. Take the number at check-in time (or at booking time), and then send alerts or do outbound voice calls to those who have not boarded. (Of course, the responsibility is with the passengers and not as much with the airlines to get on the flight. If someone is dumb enough to hang around, they deserve to miss the flight. Once it happens, they will never do it again.) At least our airports will then be quieter.