Currently standing in terminal and the question arises, wouldn’t it make sense to load the back first? It seems inefficient to me waiting for everyone in the rows ahead to get seated when we could do it the other way around. I’m sure there’s a reason, but am genuinely curious. Thoughts?
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Premium cabins board first because it’s a benefit for paying more money or having loyalty status. That way they never need to gatecheck a bag and aren’t waiting in the long line down the jetbridge. But then once we get to economy, boarding is usually done back to front, even though that’s actually not the most efficient way to do it. Outside-in is better, but that means you have to split up groups and families, which people don’t like. And totally random is actually a little bit faster than back to front, but then you’d have everyone trying to get on at once.
Boarding front to back is the most inefficient way of boarding in terms of time, but it motivates some passengers to pay more for priority boarding.
Boarding back to front is a bit faster, but not by much, because most of the time only 1 person can place their belongings and take their seat.
There is an unrealistic option: we can create an ideal queue at the gate to get the maximum number of people taking their seat at the same time. But it’s inconvenient and almost impossible.
Also there is a more manageable option that’s hard to explain in text, but there is a video that explains it and other possible ways to organize the boarding process: https://youtu.be/oAHbLRjF0vo
Probably the biggest detriment to expedient boarding is not the process, but the people. People in airports/airplanes become complete idiots the second they step foot into an airport. They have no situational awareness or courtesy, and forget that that there are other people.
Very few airlines actually load their planes front to back. They load by most valuable customers to least valuable customers. This is why you’ll usually see business class boarding first, then frequent fliers, then group number. in general, the higher your group number, the less you paid for your ticket.
Naturally, airlines want their highest revenue generating customers to have the best experience, so they tailor the boarding process to them.
So why do those people want to board first and sit at the front?
There are 2 main reasons people prefer to board early, 1 is so you are guaranteed over head bin space, 2 is that it’s a nicer experience to board a plane with less people on it.
The main reason you want to sit at the front is that you can save up to 10 minutes by being the first person off vs the last person off, plus you don’t have to drag your bags as far down the aisle.
I think airlines should do away with overhead storage for anything except coats. No bags allowed. Overhead storage could be much smaller. Require gate-check in advance for all bags that don’t fit under your seat. And just take the bags that the inevitable idiot will try to fit under that don’t and chuck them under the plane without a tag; they can fight for them after everything else is distributed. That would speed up boarding for everyone.
I’ll concede that first class can keep their overhead luggage storage; they pay a lot more and I’m fine with them getting extra perks.
I would make the cabin hot-swappable. Have everyone seated before the plane even arrives.
And ofc a way to fast re-fuel will be required. I’m sure we can get back in the air within 20 mins.
Because in America the airlines have monetized the boarding process and it makes them lots of money. You have people explicitly paying directly for priority boarding. Then you have the people paying higher fares on each of their flights to achieve their loyalty status for the priority boarding. Then you have the people signing up for the credit cards to get priority boarding, and airlines in the us are actually financially speaking more so credit card companies than airlines.
OK. This information I’m about to share with all my fellow Americans, and yall Europeans maybe, is gonna blow your mind…. I have had opinions gripes, and suggestions to the ether about loading passengers on planes for all my adult life. I fly 10-20 times a year, and I am always dismayed with the state of airplane boarding. I thought I knew it all, and I was convinced there was no better way to do it than the one the airlines weren’t listening to me about….. and then…. I flew to s.e. asia.
Holey shit these guys have the real deal on fastest boarding ever…. and it’s a result of tiny airports.
Because of the growth of passengership(my word, I like it), without the growth of airports, most flights are not loaded or unloaded with those silly jet ways. They don’t have groups a b c or 1 2 3, they don’t even always let first class go first…. they have 2 or 3 agents checking tickets, you go out the door, and you get on one of 2 or 3 busses. When the bus is full, you drive over to your plane, and you get on the plane through EITHER of the doors, front or back, depending on where your seats are. Even with the bus trip, the whole airplane gets loaded in about 15 minutes. From first ticket checked, to plane doors closed…. 20 minutes tops. Every time. It’s fucking amazing.
An incorrect assumption here is also that if planes finish boarding 5 mins earlier they’ll take off 5 mins earlier. Most likely they would just start boarding 5 mins later.
I’ve no clue why the perception is that higher paying/more valuable customers WANT to board first. If overhead bin space were protected or simply discouraged (lowering checked bag fees, including carry on bag fees), the problem would be all but solved. The worst time of my travel happens from the moment I step on the plane until the moment I’m off the plane. Airline travel is torture, in many ways even in first class (US domestic travel), but certainly in the “premium” seats that still pack you in with other uncomfortable travelers.
In short, it all boils down to carry on luggage as others have more or less said.
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