SFO's "Quiet Airport" program has been working to reduce background noise in the terminals, helping you feel more relaxed before you fly.
Launched in 2018, the Quiet Airport program began with the creation of new policies for airport tenants to limit sound footprints and establish guidelines around the use of music in tenant spaces. The following year, the SFO Customer Care team realigned where public address announcements would be made, to ensure that audio paging for passengers would be made only in necessary and relevant areas.
Since launching, SFO staff have worked with airlines to discontinue the practice of having all gate announcements for a departing flight broadcast throughout the entire terminal. Now, all airlines now make boarding announcements only in the relevant gate and adjacent area. Other announcements, such as calls for final boarding or gate changes, are handed over to the SFO communications staff for targeted broadcast on behalf of the airline.
The result is a significant decrease in unnecessary noise for passengers, with a 40% reduction in announcements at aircraft departure gate seating areas. In the International Terminal alone, SFO Customer Care staff estimate that more than 90 minutes of unnecessary announcements have been eliminated each day. The team will continue to focus on reducing sources of unwanted background noise, including items such as moving walkways and escalators.