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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In Australia, for the first time I’ve ever experienced, they loaded the 737 using *both* front and back doors (depending on your row)
Super efficient
People are generally lazy and inconsiderate. If you load from the back to the front, the lazy inconsiderate people will put their overhead luggage in the first bin they come across, and walk to the back.
So then when you load the front people last, they have to walk to the back to find a bin and then forward to their seats.
And before you say “then the flight attendants need to enforce this!”, consider how rude and entitled people are and how little authority flight attendants actually have.
So it’s easier to just load the front people first. Also they paid more for their seats so they should be able to get in and get settled first.
Trust me airlines have already figured out dozens of super efficient boarding systems that would be both quick and convenient for the passengers. The problems is that people are incapable of following very simple and clear instructions so any attempt at a boarding system ends up in disaster because people don’t do what they’re supposed to do, so airlines have kind of given up trying to be efficient.
There have been studies on more efficient ways to board a plane, as others have mentioned and linked in this thread.
In broad, general strokes, boarding back to front, window to aisle, is the most efficient method, but it shortcuts the highest paying customers who sit in front, who want that preferential treatment.
One issue not being discussed here, is that _**planes aren’t engineered for back to front loading**_.
If you look at most common passenger planes, the rear 40% of the plane’s fuselage, has absolutely no support beneath it. The wheels generally end just behind the mid-body wings.
If you were to load 40% of the plane, luggage and passengers in the rear of the plane first, it would tip the plane backwards on its tail, raising the nose and cockpit straight into the air, much like what happened [in Lewiston 2 years ago](https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=JTDSS8unwQM) and [JetBlue in October of last year](https://www.paddleyourownkanoo.com/2023/10/23/jetblue-airbus-a321-tipped-backwards-onto-its-tail-while-parked-at-the-gate-at-new-york-jfk-on-sunday-night/).
Without some counterbalance, or locking the front landing gear to the runway as the plane loads to full, there’s a very real weight distribution problem to deal with.
It has been tried and simulated And wargamed. Southwest has tried the “simultaneous front and back loading” as well.
the issue is this in reality there isn’t much difference. *If* everyone acts as automatons then you can get really efficient loading times using load methods like “load back to front, Seat D. Then load back to front Seat C, then load back to front seat A, then load back to front seat B”
the problem is humans are not automatons and do things like get out of line, or want to argue with the stewardess, or want to negotiate a different seat during loading, or want to get a “better” overhead bin, or they need to pet someone’s dog or complain about a screaming child, or they don’t get out of the aisle immediately when they find their seat, they need to push back upstream to go to the bathroom, someone needs help being seated (airlines tend to get these people down the ramp first)
All of these things back up everyone behind them have to stop and wait. And this stops the entire boarding process every time anyone does any of the things I noted above (and about a zillion other ones). The problem isn’t the chosen process, it is all the other things humans do that disrupt and slow down the loading.
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