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Singapore Airport May Use Facial Recognition Systems To Find Late Passengers (fastcompany.com)

Singapore's Changi airport, which is widely touted as one of the best airports in the world, is testing use of facial recognition systems to find late or lost passengers in the airport so they don't delay their flight for everyone else onboard. From a report: Changi Airport is looking at how it can use the latest technologies to solve many problems - from cutting taxiing times on the runway to quicker predictions of flight arrivals. It comes as the island state embarks on a 'smart nation' initiative to utilize technology to improve lives, create economic opportunity and build community ties. However the proposed use of cameras mounted on lampposts that are linked to facial recognition software has raised privacy concerns. Steve Lee, Changi Airport Group's chief information officer, told Reuters that the airport's experiments are not from a "big brother" perspective but solve real problems. "We have lots of reports of lost passengers...so one possible use case we can think of is, we need to detect and find people who are on the flight. Of course, with permission from the airlines," said Lee.

52 of 86 comments (clear)

  1. Good idea by Joce640k · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yes, there's no way a boss/politician could ever look at that and think, "I bet we could use that for finding terrorists..."

    --
    No sig today...
    1. Re:Good idea by cayenne8 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Anything that CAN be used for Big Brother, WILL be used for Big Brother.....eventually.

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    2. Re:Good idea by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      The story is about Singapore. The plan is probably to make sure anybody that brings a durian onto the bus pays a fine before leaving the country. /s

      You do know terrorists are bad, right? Maybe you had an additional concern that would make more sense to focus on.

    3. Re:Good idea by mjwx · · Score: 1

      Yes, there's no way a boss/politician could ever look at that and think, "I bet we could use that for finding terrorists..."

      To play devils advocate... If you had a photo of what Timmy Terrorist looked like, wouldn't you?

      The fatal flaw of facial recognition is (beyond the fact it's highly unreliable) is that you need to have an accurate picture of them to begin with.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    4. Re:Good idea by Joce640k · · Score: 1

      You know "terrorist" is a metaphor, right?

      --
      No sig today...
  2. Facial recognition is a tool by SuperKendall · · Score: 4, Interesting

    When you enter an airport you have zero expectation of privacy anyway as you already had to pass multiple checks (including photo id) to get in, so why would it matter if there is constant monitoring inside the airport as well?

    I can see a ton of real value especially in recognizing someone who is supposed to be on a plane in fifteen minutes is not near the gate and not headed that way. They could even have staff drive a cart over and help especially slow or confused people, it could actually end up being really friendly and helpful unlike the dystopian scenario that always comes to mind when we imagine complete monitoring.

    Facial recognition is just a tool, while we should be mindful of uses that are creepy or dangerous, we should also not categorically dismiss truly useful real world uses just because there are also mis-uses possible.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Facial recognition is a tool by adosch · · Score: 2

      I can see a ton of real value especially in recognizing someone who is supposed to be on a plane in fifteen minutes is not near the gate and not headed that way. They could even have staff drive a cart over and help especially slow or confused people, it could actually end up being really friendly and helpful unlike the dystopian scenario that always comes to mind when we imagine complete monitoring.

      First I'll start out by saying: If you're argument is people weren't at the gate 15 minutes prior to boarding, then don't fly and be more responsible next time. Fuck, I can't tell you how many times I've had my plane held up because someone was late eating at the Chili's Bar and Grill down 100'. Now if you're legitimately late because you're running from one plane to the next, absolutely.

      All I can say is, we can justify anything with that a long list with thousands of other optimistic use cases to death. I agree that there is a ton of real benefits for that. But we always ignore the fact that everyone and everything is done for the best interest to improve quality of life. Data minding, collection, capture, surveillance is huge. Have you been blind to the news at all?

      Also, I feel pretty damn seasoned air traveler and have flown for decades. At times, I even feel a bit confused with a odd ball gate change at the last minute, hopping terminals via train or bus, even with all the signage, TSA and airport staff or picking that one seemingly confident looking fellow out of the bunch to ask a Hey, excuse me question. But guess what? I and everyone else figures it the fuck out. Even if you miss your flight, can't find your way, I haven't seen one airline go tell you to kick rocks, ever, even when it's your fault. You may not get totally catered to in some cases, but for the few who are confused in an airport, the solution is 'facial recognition system'? That's like needing a match, so you went and bought a 50lb propane tank and a blow torch.

      Facial recognition is just a tool, while we should be mindful of uses that are creepy or dangerous, we should also not categorically dismiss truly useful real world uses just because there are also mis-uses possible.

      True but how can you not? It's easy to become desensitized, grow wool over your eyes and develop amnesia. Technology always will, has been and ever will get abused for the wrong reasons it was intended. How many tech giants have misused, abused, all your data, pillaged your 'cloud' picture account of family photos, scraped your 'cloud' storage account, string data mine the shit out of your email with.

      That's a simple propaganda like stunt and excuse to implement something to appear helpful to 0.00001% of the flying population at this airport. We all know privacy is gone at airports, it's not pre-911 anymore. But don't make shitty all-for-the-end-user claims so you don't feel guilty at the end of the day with your half-truth.

    2. Re:Facial recognition is a tool by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      Exactly. No airport is going to invest in a multi-million dollar system to help find "confused" people. What a joke.

    3. Re:Facial recognition is a tool by Zocalo · · Score: 1

      As you say, there's no expectation of privacy at airports, nor is facial recognition tech at airports is nothing new - it's actually a staple of detecting anomalous behaviour patterns for individuals for many terminals - the novel application here is more the customer service angle (the customers of airports being the airlines, not their passengers). When you're facing extra gate fees and the possibility of having to offload baggage (more delays, fees, and potential knock-on effects with scheduling of subsequent flights for the aircraft and takeoff/landing slots) and something like this is going to be something that airlines are going to be all over. That the airports benefit by freeing up the gate for the next arrival promptly and all the other passengers on the plane don't have their travel plans messed around with as well, and what's there not too like?

      --
      UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
    4. Re:Facial recognition is a tool by apoc.famine · · Score: 1

      Seems like this could be far easier done with a Google-Maps like App designed specifically for airports. Look up the gate, look up the departure time, figure out what the walking time to the gate is, and give the user a notification and directions when it's time to head over there. If you're at the gate, no notification or directions required.

      There are a ton more roads and business in the world than there are airports. If google maps can help me catch a bus to get where I need to go on time, there's no reason it can't do the same with passengers at the airport. Then it's an entirely opt-in technology, and pretty much no new technology or infrastructure is required.

      Sure, it won't get you 100% of travelers on time, but for most slow or confused or first-time travelers, it would likely be a very nice tool to have.

      --
      Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
    5. Re:Facial recognition is a tool by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      It seems kinda obvious that a small country with a lot of visitors and a huge airport that serves more connecting traffic than local traffic would not really be a likely source of "dystopian complete monitoring." If they were using it for that, they'd be controlling people who are staying there, not people who are leaving or passing through. That control sure wouldn't last long if the person just left on an airplane.

      Even if a person is worried about it being installed on the streets and chooses not to visit that place, it seems silly to also avoid connecting flights at their airport.

    6. Re:Facial recognition is a tool by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      It seems kinda obvious that a small country with a lot of visitors and a huge airport that serves more connecting traffic than local traffic would not really be a likely source of "dystopian complete monitoring." If they were using it for that, they'd be controlling people who are staying there, not people who are leaving or passing through. That control sure wouldn't last long if the person just left on an airplane.

      Even if a person is worried about it being installed on the streets and chooses not to visit that place, it seems silly to also avoid connecting flights at their airport.

      It's Singapore. why not do both? The population is already under heavy scrutiny anyways, why not apply it to itinerant travelers as well? (Face it, you're supposed to be fully identified, but people have gotten through with falsified IDs).

      You have to remember they do a lot in the name of "efficiency" and such. Personal rights, privacy, etc., generally get in the way of those goals and must be eliminated. And heck, making people "disappear" that are inconvenient to the government wouldn't surprise me either, even if they were merely passing through.

    7. Re:Facial recognition is a tool by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      I've always wondered why no airport (that I know of) has any kind of internal navigation app which could easily and cheaply be done with a custom airport app and bluetooth beacons.

      That said I think an external approach would be a nice experience for people that are more technically challenged or just unaware - lots of airports already have ambassadors who are just there to help people fine their way around, this concept of proactively helping travelers is just a nice extension of that to connect ambassadors and people who really need help.

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    8. Re:Facial recognition is a tool by Strider- · · Score: 1

      Airports are large enough that standard wifi-based location determination would be more than adequate. That said, some airports could really use the time to improve their internal wayfinding system, basically the signage/gate numbering, and so forth. I used to fly 100,000+ miles a year for work, and for an experienced flyer, most airports are pretty good. The exceptions are hell holes like LAX.

      The biggest improvement in recent years is things like the airline apps that will give you up-to-date gate information as you deplane to help you get to your next gate.

      But that still doesn't help a newbie that hasn't ever navigated an airport before, perhaps some sort of navigation app that would show them the signs and things that they should follow?

      --
      ...si hoc legere nimium eruditionis habes...
    9. Re:Facial recognition is a tool by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1

      If you're argument

      If I am argument? I think not....

      Wish people could learn to spell things like "there", "their", "they're", "your", "you're", "where", "wear"....

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    10. Re:Facial recognition is a tool by jrumney · · Score: 1

      If the facial recognition finds you sitting at the bar ordering another beer, they can quickly make the decision to close the gate and start unloading your baggage. If they spot you on your way to the gate in a hurry, they know you'll be there in another 2 minutes, so it won't hurt to keep the gate open. This isn't for the convenience of the passengers who dawdle at restaurants or duty free, it is for the convenience of the airlines and the rest of the passengers who have no trouble getting themselves to the gate on time.

    11. Re:Facial recognition is a tool by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      The same as everything else that costs money and has no purpose; the goal would be to find a reason to do it, not a reason not to do it. You have to have a reason to want to do it before you worry about reasons not to! If you didn't already know you wanted to do it, and you did the analysis anyways, you'd only be worried about if there is some reason to want to do it that you missed. If you never find a reason to do it, then when you get to the part about how it costs millions of dollars you're not even going to be looking for a reason to do it, you're just going to cast the idea aside.

      Foreigners don't just "disappear" the way locals might. You might think they disappeared for few days, but then you'll find all sorts of people keep showing up looking for them.

      If you're just passing through and you spit on the sidewalk, they'll already keep you around long enough to cane you, what more than that would have a use case?

      You have a view of people being evil, but you to be missing some sort of "theory of mind" where they have actual real-world reasons for their actions. It leaves you with no predictive power at all.

  3. Wrong person to ask for permission by cowwoc2001 · · Score: 2

    "Of course, with permission from the airlines."

    Why should airlines be asked for permission? Why not the people actually being scanned?!

    1. Re:Wrong person to ask for permission by Nidi62 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "Of course, with permission from the airlines."

      Why should airlines be asked for permission? Why not the people actually being scanned?!

      You're misunderstanding. They already plan to use facial recognition on the passengers. They need to ask the airlines for permission to access flight manifests and bookings, and most likely tie in with check-in counters and kiosks to actually match names to faces (either by storing the photo when a passport is scanned, or have a camera trained on each check in counter). Depending on the systems used by the airline this could lead to possible exposure to payment or contact information of passengers, and possibly proprietary airline data. That's where it gets tricky. But the passengers? They're SOL in terms of privacy control. I guess you could wear one of those little surgical masks? It's an asian airport so at least you'd fit in and wouldn't look too weird.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
  4. Rewarding bad behavior by QuietLagoon · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The late passengers should miss their plane. To go rummaging them up, trying to find them before the plane leaves, will only encourage the bad behavior of not getting to the gate area on time. Also, I have the distinct opinion that this "feature" is really a cover for having active facial recognition in the airport.

    1. Re:Rewarding bad behavior by Rande · · Score: 1

      The biggest international airports _already_ have active facial recognition.
      What they are proposing here is just extending it so that it can be useful to the ordinary passenger rather than just the police, immigration and intelligence services.

    2. Re:Rewarding bad behavior by QuietLagoon · · Score: 1

      What percentage of tardy passengers does your rationalization represent? Lots of excuses being thrown around, with little data to substantiate them. :)

    3. Re:Rewarding bad behavior by ljw1004 · · Score: 1

      What percentage of tardy passengers does your rationalization represent? Lots of excuses being thrown around, with little data to substantiate them. :)

      I don't have data, only anecdotes...

      On my last flight through Heathrow, my wife and I had separate tickets for the same flight. She had checked lugged and I didn't. Our incoming flight was late. The BA desk at security saw that we were late. They booted me off the flight and kept her.

      I've been on several planes where everyone seems to be sitting down with their seatbelt on, but we're just waiting there. Then the pilot announces "We're missing one passenger. We're going to have a delay while we go through the hold and unload their baggage."

      So I thought it was just common knowledge that no flight ever departs with checked luggage unless the passenger is also on board the plane...

    4. Re:Rewarding bad behavior by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      The late passengers should miss their plane.

      I agree they should be punished. But the reality is that late passengers will firstly hold up a plane for a short period (notice the headcounts they do when a person is missing?) and secondly will holdup airport resources for rebooking, re-clearing security, removing baggage from planes, etc.

      It isn't easy to just punish the offender without causing a knock-on effect on everyone else.

    5. Re:Rewarding bad behavior by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      You've never been at a major international airport have you. Just sit and listen next time you're at Changi, be amazed, and then be super irritated when you realise they are only calling out for passengers on the intercom in your immediate terminal area, and there's likely 4 times as many of those calls going out.

      This is not a small problem, especially since every late passenger affects the several hundred others on board, as well as an often very heavily crammed flight schedule.

    6. Re:Rewarding bad behavior by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      You are an idiot.

      It would be extremely humiliating to be called via loud speaker: Mr. Snyder, last and final call, you are missing flight AH106! Yes, that is you Mr. Snyder, sitting at Mac Doof, spitting out burger parts while goggling that 14 year old!

      There is probably no better way in hell to get travelers behave.

      On the other hand I never caused a delay ... latest time was 5min before docking off. It was an Air France flight, so I apologized while entering, and the flight assistant said: "No Problem, Sir. You are not late, we have time ..."

      Funnily it was a flight from BBK to CDG, and we had a strange tail wind, gifting us 2h flight time. Very unusual in that direction of flight.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    7. Re:Rewarding bad behavior by Zontar_Thing_From_Ve · · Score: 1

      So I thought it was just common knowledge that no flight ever departs with checked luggage unless the passenger is also on board the plane...

      While you have a general truth here, that's not always true. Let's say that an airline named Awesome Airlines exists and passenger John Smith flew them from Heathrow to Warsaw with no problem, but due to some kind of mistake his checked luggage didn't get on the flight. It happens. It has happened to me. That's why I mention this. If we assume that Awesome Airlines figures out where the luggage is and that a mistake was made, they will put it on the next Heathrow to Warsaw flight without passenger John Smith being on that flight.

    8. Re:Rewarding bad behavior by edtice1559 · · Score: 1

      Yes they will do this. But the OPs point is that they will never knowingly send luggage *ahead* of the passenger. If a passenger fails to show for a flight segment, they match the passenger to the baggage and unload it before takeoff. This is one of the few security measures that makes sense.

    9. Re:Rewarding bad behavior by edtice1559 · · Score: 1

      It's been pointed out other places that, if they have checked baggage, grabbing the passenger probably makes the most sense. But I suspect this is for the purpose of enforcing the penalty you describe. You hear a lot of people get to the gate late and tell a sob story like they were unreasonably delayed at security. I know that at Toronto Pearson they scan your boarding pass at each stage of the process. It looks like a security measure but I'm pretty sure its for the exact purpose of refuting passenger claims that they were delayed due to no fault of their own. "Sir, you entered the security queue 32 minutes before your flight You got through in 14 minutes. Your itinerary is cancelled with no refund."

    10. Re:Rewarding bad behavior by edtice1559 · · Score: 1

      I doubt that the stated purpose is how this will actually be used. But the problem is real because you often have people making tight connections and the airline has to decide whether to wait or not. It happens very often that inbound flights are late putting connections at risk. How often? Often enough that most airlines have a poor procedure for it where they try to unload those passengers first. But it fails every time because other passengers don't cooperate. The gate agent at the connection has to decide whether or not to close the door and they have no situational awareness. If they can see that the affected passengers are moving quickly toward their next flight, they can make an operational decision to wait. If somebody is sitting at the snack counter, they can just go. No more paging and intercoms and other things that don't work well.

    11. Re:Rewarding bad behavior by rhazz · · Score: 1

      The late passengers should miss their plane. To go rummaging them up, trying to find them before the plane leaves, will only encourage the bad behavior of not getting to the gate area on time.

      Not all delays are the fault of the passenger. My mother recently missed a connecting flight because she had to go through security between flights. It took about 2 hours causing her to just barely miss the flight. Had the airport been able to locate her they could have expedited her through the line, or held the craft knowing that she was on the way. It was no fault of her own, and the airport had all the information to know where she was most likely held up. They had to reschedule her on a flight 24 hours later. Which was then delayed another day due to weather. So, shitty airport logistics cost her 2 days.

    12. Re:Rewarding bad behavior by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      The late passengers should miss their plane.

      You're cutting off your nose to spite your face. Even if we grant that late passengers deserve to miss their flight, the plane has no awareness of their tardiness, so you're delaying the other passengers needlessly as they wait for a passenger who won't arrive on time anyway. If the airport can confirm that the person isn't present or is too far away, the plane can leave as soon as the passengers who are actually present are ready to go, helping keep everyone on schedule.

      Likewise, if the last person to board would make it on time but could make it there sooner with the assistance of a motor cart or helpful directions from proactive airport staff, why not get them there sooner so that the plane can queue up for take-off earlier? Again, there's no sense in needlessly waiting.

      And what about when the airline/airport is at fault for the person being late? I nearly experienced that last year while transiting through Frankfurt. I arrived early at the gate to which the airport displays directed me and waited for boarding to start. About 20 minutes before boarding, the gate agent announced a different flight, after which the displays updated to show that a gate change had occurred. The new gate was a 20 minute brisk jog/run away from the original gate (and I was carrying a week's worth of heavy luggage for two). I barely made it on time and the airport had to dispatch a number of motor carts to assist other passengers who weren't as capable. I later found out that the gate change had been made hours prior while we were over the Atlantic, but without a local data plan to receive e-mails/notifications we were dependent on the airport's displays being accurate, which they weren't.

      As for the Orwellian concerns, the facial scans don't change anything. They already have your face on file and they already have you go through multiple identity checks to enter the secure areas of airports. They already know you're in the secure area. All these facial scans do is tell them where you are within the secure area, which is about the furthest thing from private info.

    13. Re:Rewarding bad behavior by labnet · · Score: 1

      Two hours? I don't the ni I've ever waited more than 10minutes. What 3rd world country do you come from?

      --
      46137
    14. Re:Rewarding bad behavior by jrumney · · Score: 1

      What if they are not doing this to rummage up the passengers, but to improve the economic decision making for the airline whether this passenger is worth waiting for or not?

      If a passenger is already rushing towards the gate, it is going to cost the airline more to offload their luggage than to wait an extra 5 minutes for them - especially if they were on an incoming flight that was delayed so the airline is responsible. If a passenger is still shopping in duty free, or sitting in a bar or restaurant, they don't necessarily need to rummage them up, it makes the decision to shut the aircraft doors and offload that passenger's luggage easier, and provides evidence the airline can use to refuse compensation.

    15. Re:Rewarding bad behavior by mjwx · · Score: 1

      The late passengers should miss their plane. To go rummaging them up, trying to find them before the plane leaves, will only encourage the bad behavior of not getting to the gate area on time.

      Oh this, a thousand times this.

      When you check in, you're told what time your plane boards and leaves and that boarding gates close 10/15/20 minutes before departure. Remember that when you're all sitting down and departure has been delayed its due to one passenger that is too busy stuffing their face to bother listening to the tannoy that has been saying "Paging Mr Dumfuck, would Mr Dumfuck please make himself known to airport staff, thank you". People do this because they know the plane wont leave without them.

      Fuck them. If you're not at your boarding gate on time and ignore announcements, you should miss your plane. Any luggage you have on board will be sent back at the airlines convenience within 2 weeks. The plane should leave without them.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    16. Re:Rewarding bad behavior by rhazz · · Score: 1

      She flew from Costa Rica to US to Canada.

  5. Nothing like an absolutist pessimist by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    First I'll start out by saying: If you're argument is people weren't at the gate 15 minutes prior to boarding, then don't fly and be more responsible next time.

    You've obviously forgotten what it's like to be at an airport for the first time. Or maybe, you came in on a late flight to an airport you've never been in and have fifteen minutes to make your next plane. Or maybe, you are eighteen and flying for the first time and just really confused by the whole absurd process.

    There are many ways, that people can be late or confused that they can't simply "be more responsible" to solve - and by the way I seriously hope that Travel Karma comes to bite you in the ass for your statement someday.

    Fuck, I can't tell you how many times I've had my plane held up because someone was late eating at the Chili's Bar and Grill down 100'.

    So you are ALREADY a fan of this system, which would have an attendant remind someone who has forgotten or is confused, that they need to get to their flight - so you would no longer be delayed. But no, you'd rather be self-righteous and suffer rather than actually solve that collective problem that probably happens multiple times a day.

    Now if you're legitimately late because you're running from one plane to the next, absolutely.

    JFC so NOW you are OK with it, what is the functional difference between someone who is "not responsible" vs someone who ran into bad luck? There is ABSOLUTELY NONE, again you are willing to make everyone suffer to punish the non-repsonisble person even though there is a solution to both.

    But guess what? I and everyone else figures it the fuck out.

    Yes so do I, but why should anyone else suffer? When there is a better way that would have helped our past selves figure it out sooner without trials that didn't have to be undergone? Yet again you would rather everyone suffer because YOU have figured it out, rather than making life easier for those who are slow, new, or simply having a bad travel day.

    True but how can you not?

    Because in an airport you are already in a zone where EVERY single person present has been identified and tracked entering (and on top of that your entering is already tracked by the government), so why not continue tracking inside? There is zero loss of anything and a lot of potential gain for everyone - again because the rest of us who have travelled a lot would no longer be held up by people that are having problems. I mean, what the hell is your deal you are so adamant they not be helped, just because your own absurdly luddite irrational fear of facial monitoring in a situation with zero downside? It makes no sense, finally there is a real case where it could help people and as us seasoned travelers know, could help a LOT of people because every visit to the airport is to see a LOT of confused people who could just use a little help.

    Lay out for me please not just an abstract fear, but ANY real downside to facial recognition tracking of passengers within an airport specifically.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Nothing like an absolutist pessimist by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      You want to make people suffer for your amusement and *I* am the douche?

      I think all the readers can see plainly who between us has the ideas that are all wet. :-)

      The really funny thing is that my interest in helping these people is almost entirely self-motivated so my flights are not delayed as frequently and people are not wandering aimlessly in front of me - yet even at my most biased, I am still a vastly better person than you!

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  6. Fines by Rik+Sweeney · · Score: 1

    Late passengers should really be fined, but not until they arrive at their destination.

    1. Re:Fines by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      The cabbie definitely knows which road to take; he's taking the road for customers who demand a lower rate even though they're a rich asshole foreigner!

      The thing about your sob story, you could anticipate that you're in a place with bad traffic and arrive at the airport 3 hours early anyways, if you wanted to. None of your excuses are valid excuses.

      And yet, attempting to fine you before you get to your destination would like cause you to argue, and they'd have to just kick you off the flight anyways. Fining you at the destination means that you'll be encouraged to allocate a sufficient time window next time, without creating any kerfuffle.

      It could dovetail nicely with the program in the story; just bill anybody that gets to use the service, unless they're elderly, disabled, or a local. They'd make their flights, and without any moral hazard.

  7. Inexperience by SuperKendall · · Score: 2

    Exactly. No airport is going to invest in a multi-million dollar system to help find "confused" people.

    You, sir, have obviously never been to Singapore.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  8. A Legit Use Of The Cell Phone by Zorro · · Score: 1

    Require a cell number for the ticket and send automated updates and instructions to it.

    "This is Alaska Air. Your flight will be boarding at gate 47 in 15 minutes."

    Easy and uses 1980s level technology.

    1. Re:A Legit Use Of The Cell Phone by cciRRus · · Score: 1

      One problem - some travellers may not have cellular phone services that work in the foreign country. Some travellers buy travel SIM cards in the foreign country, and they only know their assigned numbers upon purchase, so they can't register their number with the airline. Also, the travel SIM card may be expired on the day or the day before the flight, so they are uncontactable via the travel SIM card.

      --
      w00t
  9. small improvement on service, big land grab by Virtucon · · Score: 2

    It's about control. Think about it, how many flights have you been late as in it's just departed? It happens but that's what trip insurance is for.
    True they'd have to remove any checked bags for missing/late passengers but they'd have already flagged it and have those bags identified especially for
    international flights.

    The downside is that this is a big land grab in terms of privacy. Now, for one or two potential "late/missing" passengers all passengers have to submit their photos or it happens at check-in. What happens to that information after the flight? Does it get deleted?

    No, much like the dumb security bin systems you see at Heathrow, this is a bad airport idea.

    --
    Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
  10. The Orwellian stuff is already there by MorePower · · Score: 2

    I assume all the scary Orwellian stuff is already in use at airports everywhere. The novel part is that they thought of a way to use the terrorist/criminal/scary person facial recognition tracker infrastructure to possibly help people.

  11. If it's as "good" as FaceID... by JoeDuncan · · Score: 2

    ... then we don't have anything to worry about!

  12. Re:Irony by Aighearach · · Score: 1

    If the nazis want to whine that it isn't fair, they should consider the possibility that perhaps people who join antifa are genetically superior to them and it is natural for them to defeat the whiny little nazis.

  13. And 38 is an improvement by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

    "We found 38 late passengers who are at risk of delaying their flight!"

    "Where are they?"

    "In the Northwest counter line."

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  14. Re:Irony by cayenne8 · · Score: 1

    If the nazis want to whine that it isn't fair,

    You know...I really don't think "nazis" are a big problem in the US.

    Folks with that point of view are pretty much an insignificant minoroty of those in the US.

    I"m not terribly afraid of them...the antifa folks tho?

    Well, they seem to be in larger numbers and certainly are disrupting cities for various reasons....many that aren't facist.

    They seem to use that term for so many things they disagree about, that I often think of the line from the Princess Bride:

    "I do not think that means what you think it means..."

    --
    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  15. Re: Impressive that they still wait for passenger by Barnoid · · Score: 1

    It's because of checked luggage.

    No plane is allowed to take off with luggage that belongs to a passenger who is not on the plane.

    In most cases, waiting for the passenger takes less time that searching for and unloading the bags of the missing passenger.

  16. Re:Impressive that they still wait for passengers by jrumney · · Score: 1

    Singapore is a major transfer hub, so there are a lot of cases where the airline is responsible due to late incoming flights. Flights out of Singapore often arrive at their destination up to half an hour early due to the published schedule having some allowance for this. Recognizing where people are in the airport, and whether they are trying to make it to the gate, or just got distracted shopping or drinking lets them make smarter decisions more quickly about whether to wait for the late passengers or not. Make no mistake, this is not going to be used to help fewer people miss their flights, rather to reduce the cases where the airline is waiting for passengers who are late through their own negligence, and to provide evidence that the airline can use to deny compensation to such passengers.

  17. Re:Irony by Aighearach · · Score: 1

    Your comfort with nazis is not going to stop anybody else from fighting the nazis, though.

    The Princess Bride was a good movie. As far as action-adventure-comedies targeted at a young audience go, it might even be one of the best of all time. But it is not a substantive source of philosophy, and even considering the literal meaning of your quote, I'm not convinced you understand what meaning the movie would have as an attempt to cite an Authoritay.

    The attempt implies you have no understanding at all of why people would fight nazis, or how deep their willingness to sacrifice in that fight might go. That you're afraid of antifa, and also lack understanding of their seriousness, that indicates you should probably be a lot more afraid of them than you are!