The difference between equal and fair is significant.
Equal means the same for everyone, so the attendance policy is equal, the "first application takes the seat" policy is equal.
I practise fairness with phone calls. When a caller tells me what they're calling about I prioritize them ahead of the person who just says "call me back".
Of course that leads to another difference > the difference between urgent and important.
Many times information is too important to be treated with urgency; it's better to wait, and have a detailed conversation, than to respond with a terse text or truncated timeline to a multidimensional situation.