By Tony Hallett, 30 March 2005 16:10
NEWS Waiting in departure lounges for planes is not only a pain - it could be costing British business around £600m every year.
Around 35 per cent of business travellers spend three to four hours every month waiting for flights and BT - which serves parts of this addressable market through its Openzone Wi-Fi hotspots - has taken that and other figures to come up with the total of half a billion pounds plus (£599m to be precise) in annual wastage.
BT and others, whether using Wi-Fi or other wireless technologies - note the strong 3G signals at most European airports these days - are targeting this business traveller market.
Today's research found that 88 per cent of those surveyed feel it 'important' to be contactable. Seventy-three per cent said they feel the need to be reachable has increased over the past two years.
However, the time from entering a terminal to sitting waiting to board a plane looks set to shorten. This week international airports owner BAA talked about a reduction of that ordeal to just 15 minutes.
Last week silicon.com spoke to SITA chairman and BA CIO Paul Coby about the possibility of airlines adopting RFID electronic tagging technology, potentially for documents as well as luggage.
Comments
There are 6 comments. Join the discussion
1. Much Travelled
Of course there are those who take the opportunity of the lounge to wind down before a long flight.
2. Nick Ford
What a load of rubbish that column was.
Business travellers don't really need to be in touch non-stop with their companies its just an ego trip for them and slave driving by the bosses. I've been to Germay quite a few times and I found an absolute dearth of Mobile phones and laptops in the airports and out in the towns and they are a lot more efficient and industrious than we are.
We've been sold a pup in this country being fooled into thinking that all europe is walking around with phones glued to their ears and sitting in airport lounges with laptops on evey lap furiously working away.
Personally I would ban these things from airports. I'm there to travel not watch idiots banging away on laptops or listen to other people blah, blahing on a mobile.
3. Simon Allen
Agreed. I use airport time as private time. I can read or doze as I want. If I get a phone call, I try and make it brief and only use the laptop (conencted or otherwise) if it is 100% important. Someone is just trying to get some free advertising for selling their wireless service.
4. Bob Hail
If I sat in the office 24 hours a day glued to my desk, mouse in one hand, phone in the other, would this make me 3 times more productive? I think not, this is where the argument falls down, an hour here and there in an airport lounge can be a great disconnect to gather your thoughts before the obviously important meeting you are flying to! John Nammer and Myself have been working on a productivity research project which reflects this our results will be available mid summer.
5. Pete Wallace
I spend 8 hrs a month an average waiting for planes. Sometimes this is the only time I get to stop, reflect and rest.
Travel is bad enough without having emails, voicemails and the like interrupting every available second.
Wifi in airports should be restricted to business centres so the rest of us are not driven insane by the click click click of laptop keys
6. Graham Guy
Harsh words indeed from some there. Are Nick and Pete's comments representative I wonder? I like to use the time in airports to catch up on the book I'm writing. Does that make me an 'idiot', Nick? Sometimes I'll connect up to my own mail server and catch up with friends and family, but I'm sorry if my incessant 'click click click of laptop keys' is driving you insane, Pete. Maybe that person's own job stress levels are way too high.
Would people really rather we all stared blankly into space consuming endless free Jack Daniels, or would they rather that we found something constructive to do with the time?