boarding a plane
07-07-2006, 08:19 PM
#1
Administrator
Thread Starter
Joined APC: May 2006
Position: C-172
Posts: 8,024
boarding a plane
Note: When I was in Sicily last Fall, I took one of those Italian no frills airline from Catania back to Fiumicino. Boarding was easy and fast, perhaps because they opened the front and back doors, instead of funneling everyone through a single door. Admittedly, Catania is small airport compared to the ones we have here, so the two-door routine might not work.
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — Who knew that boarding an aircraft would become the newest customer-service issue to rile passengers since the removal of hot meals on flights?
In recent weeks, two major airlines have altered boarding policies as part of an effort to appease customers while still getting their flights out quicker.
Southwest Airlines budged on its 35-year policy of no assigned seats. This month, Southwest will begin assigning seats to passengers on flights out of San Diego as part of an eight-week trial.
The move comes as the carrier is trying to attract more frequent business travelers who avoided the airline because it required passengers to check in for flights at least 24 hours in advance or arrive at the airport hours before departure to get the best shots at preferred seats.
Northwest Airlines abandoned row-by-row boarding in its coach cabin, and opted for open boarding on domestic and Asia-bound flights. That means after first-class passengers, top members of its frequent-flier program and those needing extra assistance, the rest of the cabin can scramble. Airline spokesman Dean Breest said the change shaves about seven minutes off boarding times.
Boarding has become the latest quandary for airline executives. The quicker they can get an aircraft back in the air, the more money that aircraft makes.
Several Northwest customers who flew recently said the boarding change created chaos. Sandra C. Greer flew Northwest to Albuquerque, N.M. on June 3 but vowed never to fly the airline again because of what she said was a "mad rush" among passengers who jammed the gate area to board.
"It was chaos. I can't imagine how this saves time," said Greer, a chemical and biomolecular engineering professor at the University of Maryland.
But Kate Bauer, a Detroit-based Ford Motor Co. collections analyst, said Northwest's new process was "OK" because passengers rarely paid attention to row boarding announcements, and boarded when they wanted anyway.
Random boarding seems to be emerging as the preferred method among airlines in part because it frees gate agents to perform other duties such as helping passengers with seating or flight problems.
JetBlue Airways has used random boarding since this spring. Canada's WestJet has used open boarding since 2002 after trying to find alternatives such as boarding passengers from the front of the coach section to the back and from the back to the front.
WestJet even tried nontraditional, whimsical ways, such as boarding based on the color of passengers' hair, shoes or socks. "We have found the most efficient is doing a general boarding call," said WestJet's spokeswoman Gillian Bentley.
Last fall, United Airlines chose "Wilma": window, middle then aisle-seat boarding. Prior to the switch, United utilized the most common boarding method: boarding coach passengers from the rear of the aircraft to the front. United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said the new boarding system shaves about five minutes from boarding time.
America West boards coach passengers from back to front on the aircraft, and from the windows to the aisles. The process was developed by the math department at Arizona State University in 2003. Since merging with America West last fall, US Airways will abandon its zone-boarding policy and adopt America West's system.
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — Who knew that boarding an aircraft would become the newest customer-service issue to rile passengers since the removal of hot meals on flights?
In recent weeks, two major airlines have altered boarding policies as part of an effort to appease customers while still getting their flights out quicker.
Southwest Airlines budged on its 35-year policy of no assigned seats. This month, Southwest will begin assigning seats to passengers on flights out of San Diego as part of an eight-week trial.
The move comes as the carrier is trying to attract more frequent business travelers who avoided the airline because it required passengers to check in for flights at least 24 hours in advance or arrive at the airport hours before departure to get the best shots at preferred seats.
Northwest Airlines abandoned row-by-row boarding in its coach cabin, and opted for open boarding on domestic and Asia-bound flights. That means after first-class passengers, top members of its frequent-flier program and those needing extra assistance, the rest of the cabin can scramble. Airline spokesman Dean Breest said the change shaves about seven minutes off boarding times.
Boarding has become the latest quandary for airline executives. The quicker they can get an aircraft back in the air, the more money that aircraft makes.
Several Northwest customers who flew recently said the boarding change created chaos. Sandra C. Greer flew Northwest to Albuquerque, N.M. on June 3 but vowed never to fly the airline again because of what she said was a "mad rush" among passengers who jammed the gate area to board.
"It was chaos. I can't imagine how this saves time," said Greer, a chemical and biomolecular engineering professor at the University of Maryland.
But Kate Bauer, a Detroit-based Ford Motor Co. collections analyst, said Northwest's new process was "OK" because passengers rarely paid attention to row boarding announcements, and boarded when they wanted anyway.
Random boarding seems to be emerging as the preferred method among airlines in part because it frees gate agents to perform other duties such as helping passengers with seating or flight problems.
JetBlue Airways has used random boarding since this spring. Canada's WestJet has used open boarding since 2002 after trying to find alternatives such as boarding passengers from the front of the coach section to the back and from the back to the front.
WestJet even tried nontraditional, whimsical ways, such as boarding based on the color of passengers' hair, shoes or socks. "We have found the most efficient is doing a general boarding call," said WestJet's spokeswoman Gillian Bentley.
Last fall, United Airlines chose "Wilma": window, middle then aisle-seat boarding. Prior to the switch, United utilized the most common boarding method: boarding coach passengers from the rear of the aircraft to the front. United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said the new boarding system shaves about five minutes from boarding time.
America West boards coach passengers from back to front on the aircraft, and from the windows to the aisles. The process was developed by the math department at Arizona State University in 2003. Since merging with America West last fall, US Airways will abandon its zone-boarding policy and adopt America West's system.
07-07-2006, 10:19 PM
#2
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2005
Position: FO, looking left
Posts: 1,060
United is testing this double boarding system at Denver.
This is a thread which I started on this very same topic.
http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/showthread.php?t=2176
It has some insight.
This is a thread which I started on this very same topic.
http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/showthread.php?t=2176
It has some insight.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
