Slashdot Mirror
Airlines Won't Dare Use the Fastest Way to Board Planes (wired.com)
An anonymous reader writes: You've arrived at the airport early. You have already selected the perfect seat. You've employed all possible tricks for making the check-in and security processes zoom by. But there's still some blood-pressure-raising chaos you can't avoid: boarding. From impatient fellow travelers who are determined to beat you onto the plane to passengers who insist on jamming their too-big carry-ons into overhead bins, making your way to your seat can be straight-up hellish -- and Wired's Alex Davies offers up a cheery explanation of why the situation is unlikely to improve any time soon. It's not that airlines aren't trying. In fact, United is in the middle of a months-long test at LAX that involves splitting its five groups of passengers into two lines, instead of five, to see whether that will make boarding less painful. But there are some basic measures that airlines could be taking to speed things up -- offering free baggage check, for instance, or cutting down on early boarding perks -- if they weren't so worried about their bottom lines. "The question for the airlines, then, is not how to get everyone onto a plane as quickly as possible," Davies writes. "It's how to get everyone onto a plane as quickly as possible while still charging them extra for bags, doting on the regular customers, and maintaining the system that, like all class structures, serves whoever built it."
"Back to front, windows to aisle, and actually enforce carry on size."
And don't let idiots stop halfway to their seat, to stuff their carry-ons into someone else's space.
Enjoy life! This is not a dress rehearsal.
Honestly, except for needing to stuff an oversize bag in the overhead no one should want to be crammed into the stuffy airborne-infection-enabling metal tube any sooner than absolutely necessary to take off on time. Yet so many seem to treat it like trying to grab a seat on the subway.
Back to front, windows to aisle, and actually enforce carry on size.
Kind of hard to sell upgrades then, though.
Exactly, boarding from front to back, as they do it now, is actually the worst way to do it. It causes blockages. The back should board first and the front should exit first. That's the most logical approach. Of course they don't want their precious first class people waiting longer though so they board first despite that being the slowest, most inconvenient way to board.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
If they'd enforce carry on size, there would be no reason to put it somewhere else.
Not true, they do not size the overhead baggage compartments to the number of seats entirely correctly.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
The fastest way possible to load would be to use Southwest's system where people can pick their own seat, with a twist - the plane always unloads from the opposite door they load in, and every landing you switch doors you dock at front to back.
Everyone wants to sit to get off as soon as possible, so under this system the first people in would flock to the back and not block up people just trying to get on.
The other thing that slows down boarding is carry-ons. I do think maybe airlines should have checked luggage free but charge for carry-on bags that go in overhead, so they'd be less common and go to those that really need carry on. If people knew they would be getting carry-on space for sure they would not be so desperate to board early.
Another system that would help a lot with checking bags is some system you could call SureCheck, that would text you when your bag(s) had entered the hold of the plane. Most people would feel more secure in checking bags if they could perhaps see what part of the airport baggage handler process the bag was in. It would involve a lot of technology but I think increased check-ins would be worth it overall...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
https://mythresults.com/airplane-boarding
or get an American Express Platinum card which gives you all those benefits for nothing.
Wheel of Time: Book by Book and Sumview (summary review) Bigdady92 style: http://bigdady92.blogspot.com/
This isn't a race to the bottom. For those of you who aren't old enough to remember air travel before deregulation, prices were about twice as high back then.
If you want as much service and frills as we had back then, you can still get them by paying extra for them. The only thing that's changed is that you have the option of paying less if you're willing to give up the frills and additional service. If you choose to pay less for worse service, then that's your decision. Not the airline's.
Hell, I'd pay a premium to be sedated in the departures lounge, stacked in a tiny coffin on the plane, and woken up at my destination. Load me in any damn order you like once I'm unconscious.
It may look like I'm doing nothing, but I'm actively waiting for my problems to go away.
--Scott Adams
Back on topic, I wish they would crack down universally on people who somehow manage to carry on 4-6 different items, at least one of which is oversized, when "One carry-on and one personal item" is clearly stated, and then cram it all into the overhead.
"But that's my carry-on. And my personal item is this conglomeration of a huge tote and a purse and a laptop bag and a diaper bag and a pillow and a large coat and a satchel that I'm going to shove into the overhead"
and then have the gate agent come get them when it's time to board first-class.
That will cost money and waste time. People near the gate can get to the gate sooner than people in a lounge halfway across the airport. Having to dedicate a person to go get them means higher costs.
In the meantime keep the overhead bins in first-class closed so that people flying coach don't stuff their baggage in there on their way through.
Interestingly enough, knowing how to open an overhead bin is a pretty common bit of information that most flyers have. They sometimes have to do it when they deplane, and just watching someone else do it is usually enough to figure out how.
What I'm trying to say is, you can close the overhead bins, but people passing by who fear not having space where they are will simply open them up and put their stuff in. I've seen them do it to closed bins in economy as they pass by, so why you'd think they wouldn't do it to an apparently empty first class section is interesting.
You could have a waitress, I mean FA, standing there to stop them, but then she's not doing anything productive like getting the aircraft ready for departure or helping people who actually need help boarding.
If a first-class ticket meant getting free admissions to the private lounges and the perks therein, it would be a lot more desirable to pay those prices.
At least for United, most of the people in First are not paying for first class tickets. They are complimentary upgrades for Mileage Plus fliers. On many many flights I've been on, maybe two out of a dozen seats are actual first class tickets. What you'd wind up with is a system where first class paying passengers are the last people on the plane and having to search for overhead space, and those people are the LAST ones you want to piss off. Not only are they paying extra for their seats, they're usually frequent fliers who pay extra more often.
The perks work, so they will stay. I've flown United my entire career, except for a number of times I can count on the fingers of one hand. Every one of those exceptions has been a horrible flight where the airline has had no reason to treat me better than "get on last, get a middle seat" mode. (Except one flight on a government travel order.) I have no reason to switch to any other airline, despite how United sometimes screws things up really bad. (No heat on a winter flight on an Express flight, for example.)
And finally, First is not the holdup when boarding. Yes, there is an initial hiccup as they find seats and put bags away, but from then on the delays come from the many more people getting on in back. You would not speed things up significantly by making first board last.
No, let a parent get on and settled faster so the kid can get their food and go to sleep.
Every airline I've ever flown already does this. Parents with kids get to board before anyone else, including first class.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
Lots of airline do load back to front and it's not a very good method. Mythbusters even did an episode on boarding a plane. They determined the best way to board is how Southwest does it. No assigned seats and random boarding. Back to front is often times not much better than many other methods because because it makes boarding a serial process. In other words, only one person can put their luggage in the overhead space and sit at a time. Anytime you do this, it really slows down the boarding. With Southwest's method, for example, there's a much greater chance that several people can be doing that at once. If you must have assigned seating, then a good method is to load in zones where each zone has people spread throughout the plane, at least a couple rows apart. Then, you have a better chance of more than one person being able to load their luggage and sit at once.
When I'm getting on a plane, most of the time I'm waiting is because people ahead of me are wasting time trying to cram their massive luggage into the overhead bin or are getting out of their seats into the aisle to let in someone who is sitting farther outboard.
Someone above said 'enforce carry on size'. I think we can go one further and reduce carry-on size. We have a mad rush to get on the plane because people want to get overhead bin space for their huge roller bag before everyone else fills it up with their own huge roller bags. If there was no shortage of space, people may not be in such a hurry to get on the plane. We all depart and arrive at the same time.
Divide the volume of overhead bin space by the passenger capacity of the plane and limit bag size so everyone gets room. Then we can board back to front, windows to aisle, without anyone freaking out? You can still seat first class first, it doesn't take long compared to seating coach.
But what about families? You can't send in the two kids who have the window and middle seats before the mom who has the aisle. And disabled people? You can't send the half-daffy grandpa in separate from his helper. If too many exceptions crop up, we spoil the efficiency of the process.
Sounds like an improvement to me.
Be careful what you wish for. The first class passengers are subsidizing your ticket prices. If fewer people fly FC, you will pay more.
Pro-tip: Use a soft bag, and put a smaller hard case inside it for the items that need to be protected.
Also, I was in the military, and here is the proper way to load and unload a plane (or bus):
1. Put a gunnery sergeant at the front of the vessel to control the process.
2. Load back-to-front BY COLUMN. So window seats load first, back-to-front, then middle seats, then aisle seats.
3. Unload the same way: Everyone in an aisle seat on the starboard side stands up, grabs their gear and files off. Then the port side aisle. Then the starboard middle seats, etc. An entire column of passengers is getting their gear simultaneously, adding massive parallelism to the process.
4. Anyone who bottlenecks the system get assigned to latrine cleaning duty.
This is what we've been reduced to, that is, groveling over seeming "small favors" like ok, bring your CPAP, or your CGM, cane, walker, etc. Musicians can bring instruments (sometimes).
We're GROVELING for space that we should have anyway, just so airlines can please Wall Street, NOT THEIR PAYING PASSENGERS.
There are no longer clothes closets for coats. The food was never much good. The seat pitch is made for anorexics. And people, believing they're getting a "deal" (notice there are no such things as bereavement fares and the like) will swallow any humiliation no matter how undignified or simply crazy.
You have to have your naked image taken, remove very reasonable items from luggage, ensure your Papers Are In Order, then queue in to lines that are grievously long. We're like cows to slaughter.
---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
The back should board first...
If one types in a search engine: aircraft tail sitting, and sees the images, it would become clear that it is not a good idea.
Aircraft is not a bus. The common sense does not always work in aviation.
I used to think this was standard as well. Then, two years ago, I had the misfortune of trying to bring my two-year-old to Hawaii. United Airlines does not let parents with small children board first! I recommend not flying with them.
The fee is waived for active-duty military
Ha, you peasants think you're smart, but I've already angled my air vent so that he who dealt it smelt it.
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
I have always wondered why the airlines and plane manufacturers didn't get together to create a standard checked bag form factor. A plastic hardshell case such is currently popular, with both embedded RFID and barcodes. Normal conveniences such as 4 wheels, extending handle, etc. Designed in such a way that loading and unloading can be nearly fully automated, similar to what you see used on cargo jets. If you use one of their cases, your bags are guaranteed to be at the carousel 15 minutes after the passenger door is opened upon landing. If you so desperately need to use your calvin klein designer luggage you wait.
The RFID tags also allow them to weigh the bags and charge the passenger accordingly. If my case only weighs 20 lbs and Aunt Bee's bag weighs in at 49.9 lbs, she pays more. Personally I would actually pay the extra $10-$25 tax for a checked bag if I knew I could get it back quickly at baggage claim,
I put my bag in the first bin to my left as soon as I board. It doesn't belong to anyone.
That first bin is almost always at a bulkhead where there is no under-seat storage available. The passengers seated there have no place but the overhead to put their carry-ons, no matter how small they are. You've filled up their overhead space because "it doesn't belong to anyone" just so you don't have to spend your time looking for space near your seat, meaning they may have to spend time searching for space that is well behind them -- and slowing down the boarding for everyone while they do it. And slowing down the unboarding as they have to go against the flow of traffic to get their stuff.
That sounds pretty selfish to me. Why not just carry your things with you to your seat and use the space there?