San Francisco is a ‘quiet airport.’ They limit announcements, background noise and marketing. It’s been that was since 2018, and during Covid they used some of the downtime to push the project forward.
The airport targeted gate announcements, overlapping PA messages, and tenant music. Instead of blasting departure calls terminal-wide, messages are limited to each gate and their immediate surroundings. In 2020, they worked with airlines to centralize and reduce announcements, cutting 40% of the paging.
They claim that just in the International Terminal they’ve eliminated over 90 minutes of unnecessary announcements a day. Now they’re working to reduce noise emanating from escalators and moving walkways.
United Airlines at SFO
Amsterdam Schiphol has had a similar “silent airport” initiative since at least 2011, with announcements mostly confined to essential information. Some terminals at Singapore Changi and Zurich have taken similar approaches. But they’re the first in the U.S. though some have quiet rooms and others have reduced noise near gates.
Amsterdam Schipol Airport
Background noise is mentally exhausting, especially for long layovers or early-morning flights. Quiet reduces stress. I’m not a fan of airport music programs, myself, such as in my home airport in Austin.
And here’s Houston Hobby, at least the music is reasonably calming rather than too loud.
Advocates have argued the quiet is more inclusive, helping neurodivergent travelers and those sensitive to sensory overload, although at the same time visually impaired passengers may rely on audible alerts.
Most travelers now get notifications via mobile apps, email, text, and digital gate boards. Announcements may be unnecessary – except for travelers who don’t know to be looking, such as for a gate change or when a specific person is being paged. Overall travelers seem to prefer the quiet though.
Should more airports move to this approach?