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After you board people with special needs, First Class and Economy Plus, it makes no sense to board row by row front to back as the jetway is clogged with people waiting for each person to put their stuff in a overhead bin and sit down. Atleast if after all those I mentioned initially were on, if they boarded starting at the back of the plane you will have everyone on the plane much quicker.
Ive only flown Delta, with 1 flight on Air Jamaica and Airtran, but do other carriers board like Delta as well, front to back and always have the jet way clogged with people waiting to board?
Most Airlines Board Back to front, with a bunch of variations.
Some board Back then some in middle, then front of Coach, The 'idea' is do few rows in each area, so the putting stuff in overhead, getting into seats is more even. Then send next back middle front down. Sound good in theory but, if first group does not get there butts into the window seats, before the next group arrives you have aslie blockage.
It's the human element that screws up whatever plan they come up with.
It would seem that an absolute back-to-front scheme would work best. Window seats first, then middle, then aisle, left then right (or vice versa), then repeat for the next row forward. Forget boarding first class first - let them enjoy a few extra minutes in the lounge or whatever.
Once you add in people who normally require assistance, the above mentioned scheme no longer works. Add to that the people in the back who will place their carry-ons in forward bins, people who take forever to get in their seat, etc. and the whole plan goes to hades in a handbasket!
The people that pay for first class and frequent flyers demand priority boarding. Access to overhead bin space is a big plus for boarding first.
If the people in first class and the frequent flyers demanded to be boarded last, airlines would do so. The boarding system used by most airlines sacrifices efficiency for customer service.
Southwest in the past few years made a change to allow higher fare passengers to board before lower fare passengers.
I think airlines might be forced to go the route of Spirit Airlines. Carry on luggage causes so many delays. Even on Southwest where bags fly free, they take delays for excess carry on bags. Passengers break overhead bins trying to stuff their oversized bag in the bin. This causes delays when maintenance has to come out and either defer or fix the bin.
If there were fewer people with large carry on bags, boarding and de-planing would be much quicker.
Priority boarding. The airline makes more money by, essentially, inconveniencing normal passengers. Money trumps logic. However, there have been many studies on what boarding technique is most efficient. It appears the 'human element' screws it up. People will be slow and hold up the line, or put their luggage somewhere it doesn't belong, etc.
EDIT: I just read AV8n's reply. Seems we're on the same page and I'm redundant.
After you board people with special needs, First Class and Economy Plus, it makes no sense to board row by row front to back as the jetway is clogged with people waiting for each person to put their stuff in a overhead bin and sit down. Atleast if after all those I mentioned initially were on, if they boarded starting at the back of the plane you will have everyone on the plane much quicker.
Ive only flown Delta, with 1 flight on Air Jamaica and Airtran, but do other carriers board like Delta as well, front to back and always have the jet way clogged with people waiting to board?
Delta boards back to front (as declared in their "zones") definetly not front to back.
The problem is a bit in the priority seating arrangements - as everyone and their brother has either some sort of credit card that allows them priority boarding or is a frequent flyer, Try flying out of Atlanta on a monday where 90% of the flyers are golds, plats or diamonds. The credit card ones irk me the most, since it is purely a revenue generating tool by the airlines. The people don't even need to fly to get this.
Another problem is that Delta gate agents do not always enforce zone seating. Another problem is the "special needs" seating where every family with a child (including teenagers) think the pre-boarding applies to them - but they seem to have enforced that a bit better.
My real issue is....
GATE LICE! Those idiots that congregate in front of the gate waiting for their zone to be called. I can't even get onboard sometimes, it's so congested, when they call for first class boarding. You have reserved seating - sit the hell down and get the hell out of the way so I can board with my upgrade!
What's your rush? Y'all are gonna get to your destination at the same time!
OP, if they did it.that way, all.the problems would be solved... with the use of a few well-placed cattle prods of course.
Not an issue for me - but people just got to carry on their kitchen sink luggage and rush to find a space in the overhead bins, in order to avoid baggage fees. Drives me crazy.
Quick efficient boarding is actually a HUGE issue with the airlines - with "on time arrival" metrics and aircraft turn-around being so important. If they lose the oppurtunity to leave in a certain scheduled window then it may result in a serious control tower delay.
In the 'old' days they tried to board from back to front.
Of course, everyone is 'important' and needs to get there first, so people jumped the queue and you ended up with some twice a year flyer trying to get their entire owned belongings into the over head bins on row nine, while the folks who had seats in row 10 through 37 stood and waited. Chaos ensued, and still does.
The way to solve the problem is to allocate overhead bin space. You get a seat, and you get overhead space which will accommodate ONE regulated piece of carry on baggage. If your carry on doesn't fit in YOUR overhead bin space, it goes down below, or gets left behind.
You do this, and it doesn't matter whether you get on first, or last. Your seat, and your overhead space is waiting for you. Someone else puts their overflow crap in your overhead space and it goes off, or down below.
People would get run through baggage claim once and they won't do it again. They're important, you know, and not about to wait...or able to pay for a better class ticket with more space. They're important...but broke, too!
After you board people with special needs, First Class and Economy Plus, it makes no sense to board row by row front to back as the jetway is clogged with people waiting for each person to put their stuff in a overhead bin and sit down. Atleast if after all those I mentioned initially were on, if they boarded starting at the back of the plane you will have everyone on the plane much quicker.
Ive only flown Delta, with 1 flight on Air Jamaica and Airtran, but do other carriers board like Delta as well, front to back and always have the jet way clogged with people waiting to board?
HUH? Delta BOARDS back to front.. first class obviously in the front and boards first, then the special needs, then medallion members.. then back to front. The problem is, too many flyers fall into the first 3 categories..
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