Strict Order Boarding Would Get Planes in the Sky Faster

electrostatic writes "In a Nature.com oldie-but-goodie, a physicist says he has solved a problem that costs airlines millions every year: what is the quickest way to get passengers aboard an aircraft? Boarding is a serious issue for airlines, particularly those operating short flights that run several times a day, yet boarding times have steadily increased for decades. Back in 2005 Jason Steffen of the Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois said the method used by many airlines to this day is almost the worst. 'The best way to board, according to the researchers, would be a row-by-row, seat-by-seat, strict order. That would mean everyone lines up, row 25 first. I can't imagine fliers will go for that. Next best, they say, would be boarding all the window seats first, followed by those in the aisle. Obviously that's not practical, at least for couples or families traveling together.'"

Comments

Not Faster

[webmaster404]

It would be faster until some guy arrives 5 minutes later then everyone else and has to go through security and get on the plane, because of the order everyone would have to stop, let him through, reorganize and then go through. In an ideal situation it would be faster but chaos is quicker then order because order can never truly happen.

Re:Not Faster

[tompaulco]

It would be faster until some guy arrives 5 minutes later then everyone else and has to go through security and get on the plane, because of the order everyone would have to stop, let him through, reorganize and then go through. In an ideal situation it would be faster but chaos is quicker then order because order can never truly happen.
If you aren't there 15 minutes (20 for some airlines) prior to boarding, then you aren't getting on the plane. Since it should only take 15 minutes to get everybody organized, the late of their own accord person is not a problem. The problem is the late because of the airlines person. That person doesn't have to be at the gate 15 minutes prior to takeoff. It wouldn't be fair to impose that requirement on a connecting passenger, since it is the airline's fault that he is late. But his being late would definitely screw up some sort of organized boarding system.

Re:Not Faster

[dal20402]

Also, what difference would this truly make? Airports already maximize the number of takeoffs from multiple gates. The plane has no choice but to take off at time X, regardless of how annoying the boarding process is. Any successful implementation of speeding up this process means that everybody waits on the plane longer versus in the seating area at the gate.

Most airlines at most airports (i.e. all airports but jammed nightmares such as LGA, JFK in the evening, or ORD) are not capacity limited. If they can turn around planes quicker, that means more legs per day throughout the system, which translates directly into money. For example, Southwest has been continuously refining its boarding process for quite some time to try to shave minutes off turn time. They are at 25 to 30 minutes at most airports; they would dearly love to get that down to 20.

Even at capacity-limited airports, quicker turn times can get the plane out of the airport more quickly, saving time in the rest of the system. At delay-prone airports, quicker turns can help keep the system on schedule. One delayed major airport, such as EWR for Continental, can screw up an airline's entire network in a real hurry.

In 1998, Boeing introduced the 757-300, a super-stretch variant of the narrowbody 757 we know and love from transcontinental U.S. flights. The plane has the lowest cost per passenger-mile of any large jet in existence. Nevertheless, it didn't sell well. At least some of the operators who rejected it did so because, as a narrowbody with ~45 rows of seats, its turn times were just too long to fit smoothly into a short-haul operation. Instead, because of the turn times, those airlines are operating either smaller 757-200s (UA, AA) or widebodies such as the 767-300 (DL) or Airbus A300 (AA, LH). That's how critical turn times are to airline ops.

Re:Not Faster

[ryanov]

I am intentionally the "late guy" in most cases, though not late enough to delay the plane. I live 15 mins by bus from EWR. I shoot for arriving at the airport about 10-15 mins tops before the boarding time (which is the latest you can get baggage onto the plane, or 30 mins, whichever is larger -- if I'm not mistaken). I then stroll over to a breakfast/lunch/whatever place and order myself something to eat on the plane (since the airline no longer is willing to). I generally board next to last, at around the final call, no matter what row I'm in. I walk to the plane, put my carry-on (a real carry-on, not my exactly-as-large-as-possible-luggage) into the overhead and sit, without standing around in a jetway line like an asshole.

Why? I don't like having my time wasted. I don't go for this 2 hours before your flight bullshit. For online ticketing bag drop, the ticketing line flies. The security at that airport is not that bad if you are flying at off times (which I always am). I can generally get from my apartment to past security in 30 mins. There is a lot of officious bullshit inserted into the flying process by the TSA and the airlines, etc., and I personally am not playing along. As a side note, I bet the reason there are so many odd delays at airlines is that there is rhyme or reason to when people arrive at the airport. Generally the people who are in front of me in the security line when I'm taking 7:00a flights are people with flights that depart after 8:30a. I think if they said "sorry, no getting through security before X time" and put all of the retail inside the regular terminal, we'd be doing a lot better. Another side note: my girlfriend recently returned from a trip to Europe, and I forget what country this was in but she said that there was security at the gate in one of the airports. I thought that was interesting.

this is happening

[iocat]

This is now the way Southwest boards, and it's quick and rational (as is their "no assigned seating" plan, especially for their typical short flights). Everyone gets a number, and the boarding is in groups of five. United has also tried (and still tries as far as I know) windows first, then middles, then aisles, but the system fails because of familes or others travelling together, all receiving the same boarding group. Also, "elite flyers" board first and screw everything up... United's system works pretty well most of the time though, but the real problem is you can't get everyone ready to board right when they open the doors, so it's never as rational as it should be (eg, some person in row 29 is going to board when row 18 is boarding and cause a traffic jam). Southwest's new system works well because they really don't care when you board or where you sit -- the line up is mostly so frequent flyers and early check-in-ers get the best choice of seats.

It is a perk to the bread and butter...

[(H)elix1]

They could shave some time off of the boarding process - but there is way too little cargo space inside the aircraft. For those who travel often (I'm in a commercial jet more often than my car), the early boarding process gives us 'bread and butter' customers a chance to stow our gear, and those who fly once in a blue moon (usually cheap seats) a longer wait. The inefficiency is a perk, if you travel often.

Sure, they could max/min the time better... but... this is not really something that needs fixing.

Re:They won't go for it?

[Martin Blank]

Aside from the rare free bump for space, I fly coach everywhere, but I have learned efficient processes to make my experience -- and those around me -- smoother. I take on only the minimum required carry-on baggage, which is usually my notebook backpack. I stow it immediately under the seat in front of me, and then I sit down. On rare occasions, I have to carry an additional bag with me, but I'm already picking out where it's going a good five rows before I reach my own. That bag is carried in front of me so that I can quickly lift and place it, and then sit down.

Once I'm seated, I will pull off my jacket (I've learned to do so in the confines of my seat, without invading the space of the next person over), buckle up, and plug in headphones to listen to the cockpit chatter. I've also developed my own streamlined procedures for getting through security, such that it's relatively smooth for me.

A lot of people stress over flying and overdo things (especially packing and carry-ons), but with a little planning, much of that can be mitigated.

The answer to the "families board together" issue

[RetiredMidn]

...is to let people board as a group, but in the latest loading phase that any member of that group belongs to. This applies to almost any phased boarding scheme, including United's window/center/aisle phasing.

The result is that groups have to wait to board together, but they are likely to be slightly more coordinated in staying out of each other's way than three random individuals trying to fill a row in random order.

Re:Overhead space

[PCM2]

Eh, you're exaggerating.

There is something else working in your favor when it comes to checking bags: Money.

I was once boarding a flight to New York when I was told, arbitrarily at the gate, that I would need to check my smallish bag because there was no more overhead cabin room. "B-but-!" I said. "I'm sorry sir, that's the way it is," they said, grabbing my bag and tying a tag around it. Away went my bag. "You can pick it up at your destination."

What didn't really dawn on me until much later was, how could she possibly know what my destination even WAS? With the hub-and-spoke system airlines use in the U.S., it was foolish of her to assume that my destination was New York. So while American Airlines (yes, let me repeat, the airline in question was American Airlines) promptly delivered my bag to the terminal at JFK airport, I had to leg it to catch my connecting flight to Paris, then to Florence, and then by cab to a remote villa in Tuscany -- to which location American Airlines was then forced to deliver my bag, individually, by driver.

Hey, Lady at the Terminal -- was it worth it? How was your performance report that month? And let's not forget that my bag was damaged when it arrived and my camera was missing, meaning I couldn't take any photos at the wedding I was attending ... nice one, American Airlines!

Seriously ... many incidents like that, and terrorism or no terrorism, some flight attendants are going to exercise discretion when it comes to carry-on bags.

Re:They won't go for it?

[Heir Of The Mess]

I never even understood why you would want to board the plane first in first class

I've got new for you, most of the pompous prats I know who travel first class wait in the airline lounge until they are personally called to board the plane. So in fact they board last. The worst offenders of this I know have PhDs. They love the sound of "would Dr Blogs please board flight BR564 at gate 6".

once again, the digital world at work

[holophrastic]

Digital seats, digital seat assignments, and digital boarding routines. How about somethign incredibly more simpler and less sophistimicated.

How about loading it back to front, not by seat assignment (which requires human beings to line-up according to rules) but by the order in which those human beings walk onto the craft -- you know, like a freakin' bus. "Timmy, please move all the way to the back of the bus."

Then, instead of controlling the problem of humans within an aircraft each having seat assignments, you get to control the order with which people board the plane. That's a lot easier and amounts to using your airline's stupid reward points to 'reward' people for taking otherwise undesirable seats.

Especially when we're talking about short commuter flights, it's a short flight -- you don't care which seat you have. You do care how long you sit without moving -- you know, just like a bus.

Man, a bus, I talk like I know something. It's been well over ten years since I've been on a bus. But that's not the point. Well, it's not the point here. We're talking about airplanes. I use those on a regular basis. Although I've never described the experience quite like a neighbouring passenger who said she's "made a career out of strapping a plane to my ass". I miss her. She was an advertising or marketing or sales person for a company that I don't remember, on a flight I've forgotten, going somewhere I can't recall, sometime in the last ten years. Maybe fifteen. Maybe five.

Re:I know!

[dal20402]

To translate a very good but somewhat too diplomatic reply...

Some passengers can lift a bag into the overheads and some can't.

Some passengers think that "one carry-on bag up to 20 pounds" means "three carry-on bags, 60 pounds each."

Some passengers are children. Some passengers are infants.

Some parents do very well controlling their children. Others allow theirs to run around the aisle while everyone is trying to board.

Some passengers are drunk.

And some passengers delay the flight by sitting in the bar blissfully ignoring all the increasingly irritated pages from the gate agents.

Some passengers are in groups trying to sit together. Some passengers are dumb as a box of rocks.

These are redundant, especially on the sort of short flights where turn times are critically important. You will live if you have to be separated from your wife/"friend"/kissing cousin/codependency object for one hour. If you won't, that's fine too, since natural selection needs to go to work on you.

Overhead space is limited, so the place where you stow your stuff may or may not be over your seat.

Thanks to the passengers with three 60-pound carry-on bags, the place where you stow your stuff may well be in the hold. The problem is that you, and the other 10 last passengers to get on, had to walk the entire length of the plane forward and backward in order to figure that out.

An airliner aisle is barely wide enough for two non-obese people to pass each other, without bags in tow.

Nevertheless, it's a very convenient place for people to fiddle around in their bags, socialize, ask where row 13 is without noticing that they are by row 7 and the next row is row 8, fluff pillows, and prepare carry-on fast food meals for consumption. Evidently, the aisle also promotes a strange affliction where people using it for all these convenient purposes are unable to perceive the 140 passengers impatiently waiting to get by.

And sometimes, disorganization sets in.

Especially on weekends and at major holidays, most fliers are rank n00bs.

What is the real problem?

[davevr]

I live in China. As anyone who has visited here knows, the concept of a queue or waiting in line doesn't exist. When the doors open, there is a unorganzied hoard pushing madly to get into the plane. On top of this, people totally ignore the carry-on rules and routinely have several large boxes. It is pure chaos.

And yet, my china flights always board much faster than my US flights. The last flight I took was a fully-loaded 747 from Shanghai to Beijing. It boarded in about 10 minutes. A similar flight in US I had a few months ago took almost 30 minutes to board. I think there is something to be said for highly motivated chaos.

On a related note, I've never been able to figure out exactly why going through security in the US takes so long. As near as I can tell, the China and US airports do the exact same screening - the liquids in the bag, laptops out, no shoes, etc. - plus a passport check - and still it is on average 3x faster. So strange...

- davevr

Re:They won't go for it?

[ryanov]

Same here.

Know what delays me? Finding there's no space for something as small as my jacket or my laptop bag anyplace near my seat because everyone around me brought a suitcase full of shit they aren't going to need until that evening onto the plane. Why? Because they're too important to wait for their checked luggage to arrive. I've had cases where there were 20 people ahead of me in a jetway line to board a 757 and they started checking things like laptop cases and backpacks. That's right, no room on the plane for shit that I wanted to actually USE while on board so that a lot of other people could carry everything they own on board. I think a lot of this comes from the whole "that's what any seasoned traveller/person in the know/anyone who's anyone does" mentality, all started by some loudmouth who tells everyone they know to do this. Drives me up the wall, and I take the train for distances under about 1500 miles.

I was actually HAPPY about the liquids ban; retarded as it is, it means I'll be able to bring a book on board without having it gate-checked.

dual boarding more efficient?

[trawg]

I wonder if dual boarding (ie, boarding from the front and the back at the same time) would be cost efficient for them. They'd obviously need almost 2x as many staff to cover both entrances, but maybe that cost is less than having the plane delayed due to boarding problems.

I'm always annoyed that I can't disembark via the back exit when I'm getting off (I always get stuck in the rear of the plane), and it irks me to be standing in a long queue to get on the plane when I know they could effectively double the bandwidth by opening up the back entry. I guess they don't want people walking on the tarmac unless they absolutely have to.

Re:dual boarding more efficient?

[mr_matticus]

Because planes are not a uniform length, and the jetways are absurdly expensive to begin with--far too expensive to replace with new double-ended ones. The alternative, open air-stairs, is no good in inclement weather and the overall cost in terms of security and remodeling boarding gates to accomodate more flow through the staff door would be cost-prohibitive.

There really is no good system. The inverse pyramid section-number situation really would work best overall if people obeyed and if gate crews enforced it. Instead, people scramble to be first in line when their number is called so they can get to their seat first...I guess because they like getting up two or three times to let people slip past, thus blocking the whole aisle and generally slowing everything down.

The fundamental problem isn't the infrastructure. It's not even the inconvenient configuration of the aircraft. It's the damn passengers. I was on a widebody that boarded (nearly full) in under 20 minutes once. The flight had been delayed four or five times over the span of six hours, and because of the weather, the crew informed the passengers that if they didn't get their asses in the seats quickly and without incident, we'd miss the only takeoff slot likely available. It worked.

Re:dual boarding more efficient?

[F34nor]

I was on United flight from Portland to somewhere east. The crew informed us that we had basically 15 minutes to board the plane or we would lose our spot and have to wait on the runway for an hour. She then told us "You will line up by rows with the highest numbers at the front of the line and the lowest at the back. If you neighbor in line has a higher number you will let them go in front of you. If you don't have any carryon baggage and see someone who needs help you will help them." She also told us we would be polite and helpful to each other, and put our bags in any nearby compartment. The plane filled up like pouring water into a cup. It really was a moment of Zen, by being enslaved we were set free. Everything went according to plan. Everyone was polite (it was a flight out of Portland) and we were done with 5 minutes to spare everyone clapped. It was honestly one of the best moments of flying I ever had. I am sure the flight crew had been working for Southwest or had recently flown southwest because one of them made a joke about people who hadn't been in a car since 1960 not knowing how to operate a seatbelt. The opposite is true anytime I fly in Asia. I fly a lot in the gulf and India and the people's behavior is horrible. When they announce the flight everyone jumps up and starts pushing. It is the same as the driving here, get yours first and fuck everyone else. God I miss America.

Re:They won't go for it?

[ryanov]

I think the better question is "why is this happening to everyone else and not to me?" Is it that I started flying regularly after everyone else stopped checking their baggage? Do I have better quality luggage? I literally have never had a problem in the history of my flying (other than Newark and JFK's interminable baggage claim wait). The closest it came is luggage that went to the QOS office (I don't know that the hell that stands for either) inexplicably. Never lost, never damaged.

Is this really Slashdot? What about technology?

[skrolle2]

So far, I haven't seen any technological solutions to this? Why? Isn't this Slashdot? :)

Something I'd like to see is boarding passes as devices. You check in, and you get a token, a gadget, which has a little battery, a little display, some simple flashing lights, and wifi connectivity to the airport system.

So you need to get through security, and you're a bit late, and you have no idea who in front of you is more late than you, or if it's ok to skip the line. But if the airport has these boarding passes, you can build in a priority tracking system. Is your boarding pass blinking green? If so, skip the line to security. Is it not blinking? Fuck off, stand in line like everyone else. Big signs at security saying that you should let people through with blinking tokens.

Ok, you didn't get a gate number at check-in, so you have to stand around looking at the monitors in the airport. You can't go anywhere else, because the gate you need to be at might be far away, so no dawdling. If the boarding passes are connected, they can be updated in real-time, make a little beep, and display your gate on itself.

Also, passengers that are late or forgot their departure time and hold up the flight (graaoorrrgghh!!) could have their boarding pass remind them about where they should be. Make the pass beep and blink more, the more late the passenger is. No more relying on people listening to the speakers, which they don't.

Finally, boarding. So, making people board in the right order is hard. With a little blinkenlights it'll be easier. Is your pass blinking green? Then go board. Is it red? Fuck off, wait until your turn. No more big groups of boarding (passengers on row 44 to 28, please board, bla bla bla), you can individually signal each passenger that he or she should board, making sure to fill the plane up from the rear.

why not passenger cabin modules ?

[tmbailey123]

A better plane/airport design is needed, if the passenger cabin area was modular and removable, then all passengers could be "preboarded" and "postdisembarked". This way passenger loading schedules would be totally independent of planes arrival and departure. Before the plane arrives at the gate the departing passengers and their carry-on luggage would be seated and luggage stored in the cabin module. Once the plane lands the arriving passenger cabin module would be removed and taken to a gate to disembark, and the departing passenger cabin could be loaded onto the plane. The departing cabin modules would be loaded through the nose of the plane, pushing the arriving modules out the back as the arriving modules are loaded. Consider it a "plug and play" method of passenger loadeing. It should take no more time to change passenger loads than removing the freight in the cargo section of the plane.

Back rows first doesn't work

[joeyblades]

> That would mean everyone lines up, row 25 first.

I actually flew on an airline in Europe that tried that. It was a huge disaster.
Many of the back row people put their luggage in the front row overheads so they wouldn't have to carry it as far. That meant that front row people had to shuttle their luggage more toward the back of the plane. This was bad enough, but when it came time to retrieve their luggage it was complete chaos.

The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.