A Flight Information Display system (FIDS) is a computer system used in airports to display flight information to passengers, in which a computer system controls mechanical or electronic display boards or TV screens in order to display arrivals and departures flight information in real-time. The displays are located inside or around an airport terminal. A virtual version of a FIDS can also be found on most airport websites and teletext systems. In large airports, there are different sets of FIDS for each terminal or even each major airline. FID systems are used to assist passengers during air travel and people who want to pick-up passengers after the flight.
Each line on an FIDS indicates a different flight number accompanied by:
- the airline name/logo and/or its IATA or ICAO airline designator
- the city of origin or destination, and any intermediate points
- the expected arrival or departure time and/or the updated time (reflecting any delays)
- the gate number
- the check-in counter numbers or the name of the airline handling the check-in
- the status of the flight, such as "Landed", "Delayed", "Boarding", etc.
Due to code sharing, one single flight may be represented by a series of different flight numbers, thus lines (for example, LH474 and AC9099), although one single aircraft operates that route at that given time. Lines may be sorted by time, airline name, or city.
3D FIDS In May 2011, the first 3D FIDS was introduced for airports, as announced by the industry publication, Jane´s Airport Review, June/July issue 2011. Developed by Robin Colclough at Sentel Advance Systems, a UK company, ViewPoint 3D FIDS allowed the creation and display of high-definitin 3D flight information pages. Presenting information using a real-time data-linked 3D graphics allows airports to enhance their FIDS presentations to include a wide-range of 3D effects for status updates, and also present the information in novel and more interesting ways. The system is not aimed at use on 3D screens, although it has that capability, rather the use of full 3D graphics to improve image presentation and flexibility at airports.
Famous quotes containing the words flight, information, display and/or system:
“What a cunning mixture of sentiment, pity, tenderness, irony surrounds adolescence, what knowing watchfulness! Young birds on their first flight are hardly so hovered around.”
—Georges Bernanos (1888–1948)
“So while it is true that children are exposed to more information and a greater variety of experiences than were children of the past, it does not follow that they automatically become more sophisticated. We always know much more than we understand, and with the torrent of information to which young people are exposed, the gap between knowing and understanding, between experience and learning, has become even greater than it was in the past.”
—David Elkind (20th century)
“We rarely quote nowadays to appeal to authority ... though we quote sometimes to display our sapience and erudition. Some authors we quote against. Some we quote not at all, offering them our scrupulous avoidance, and so make them part of our “white mythology.” Other authors we constantly invoke, chanting their names in cerebral rituals of propitiation or ancestor worship.”
—Ihab Hassan (b. 1925)
“Few white citizens are acquainted with blacks other than those projected by the media and the so—called educational system, which is nothing more than a system of rewards and punishments based upon one’s ability to pledge loyalty oaths to Anglo culture. The media and the “educational system” are the prime sources of racism in the United States.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)