just an idea but have airplanes thought of boarding by people at the back first and then people at the front last. thought it could be helpful. just a thought from me
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Not sure but Lufthansa used to board people with window seats, then middle seats and, last, aisle seats. Seems to work better than the standard scrummage.
This would negatively impact the ego of the wealthy, and uplift the ego of the poor. 🃏
As an American 🏴, I am highly offended that you would suggest something so logical that is clearly more efficient. The wealthy obviously deserve to be seated faster, even if it inconveniences everyone else. 😈
Airlines used to do that: 'please board now if you are in rows 25-30 ...'. That stopped when they brought in chargeable extras like Speedyboarding.
An alternative is 'sit anywhere' like on a bus. My first RyanAir flight was like that and it was amazing how fast it was completed and turned around.
Realistically it doesn't matter very much to the flight itself as boarding is going to take a certain amount of time and they allow for it. It's just annoying when you're in the queue. But yeah some like RYR do tell you to use front or rear door.
You must be under 50. That is how it used to be done in the “old days”. Board First Class, then those needing assistance, then back of plane first. But now its all about $$$ and charging fees for freaking everything.
This without a doubt, but airlines, if you’re listening: I’d pay extra to board first and be at the back of the aircraft if they boarded back to front and debarked front to back.
They certainly have! Every minute a plane is grounded is very expensive, so there must be a good reason they opt to do it this way anyway - what many people are pointing out.
My question is, why do people care so much to be the first to board? I have never understood this phenomenon
I thought they did the science pretty well in many cases and really provided a good primer on the scientific method for laypeople. It’s easy for academics to turn their nose up at the show despite the fact it did so much for science education
It is silly to think that flaws in MythBusters’ scientific procedures are down to ignorance, when the realities of producing a TV show are probably more relevant. They taught a generation of kids that testing things you believe to see if they’re true is fun, and cool, and makes you a scientist.
It was tried briefly when I first started working in the early 80s. People kept putting bags in the forward overhead bins on their way back to their seats. The trial was quickly canceled.
They’ve never done that and I still question why they haven’t. This whole debacle of pushing past people who haven’t learned how to travel, pack their bags, or, God forbid, shower, must be remedied or the traveling public will continue finding air travel to be less than stellar.
Good point, it would probably be an international flight thing then right? I haven’t flown international before and havent been close enough to one of the bigger planes to notice haha
The problem with that would be folks in the front, 1st class, would end up with limited space for their carry on luggage, and you pay to have all the space you need when you pay for that 1st class ticket.
I never understood boarding families with children first … what parent wants to be trapped longer than necessary. My hubbie would board first with stuff and I ran them until last minute
I'm sure it's come up, but "First Class" expect to be served first. Its kind of in the name.
It's also been suggested to load passengers from a rear entrance for business class but you'd need double staff to welcome them, and the seat numbers already face front. It's less confusing the way it is.
Means you need the equipment, rent the space to store it and pay someone 60k to install it and take it away, and as that one needs vacation, sick days, training you need to pay at least 3 to 4 people for it…
Not necessarily only the front pax for them, and they always board via both doors anyway which solves that problem, not to mention they only have smaller planes, nothing like an A321.
If speed of passenger loading is the issue, the most effective method is to reduce carry-on luggage by offering more free baggage checking and charge to use the overhead bins.
It is also safer-- checked bags are weighed, carry-on is not.
For years I have said that the waiting lounge should be arranged with numbered rows of seats. You sit in your own seat number, then they board from the back rows.
The reason it doesn’t work is overhead storage. Some people in the back, boarding first, stow their things near the front, leaving the only space available near the back. It’s a constant problem on SWA and a drain of the flight attendants time policing storage space.
I read a big article about the science and math of boarding once time and it sorta said that every option pretty much sucked in slightly different ways except MAYBE boarding the back and window seats initially. otherwise "random" was basically as good as anything
Yeah I think if they can ensure baggage space for every passenger and don’t overbook flights and enforce baggage size and quantity, maybe things would be civil lol
I read something similar a long while back that said window, then middle then aisle was best and that clusters of rows was worst, but everything was only marginally different from random. However, there was some perception issue with customers which skewed everything. Need to track that down.
If I have to squeeze past one more rich person to reach the middle of the plane one more time I’m going to start kicking the trays of orange juice in their faces
Have just done a few internal flights in Argentina, they do fill from the back. Also think, “priority boarding, front of the bus” etc passengers would be better off getting on last. Rather than being sat there, prone, as the cattle class brush past them. They’d be better off sat in the lounge! 😂
if you need to “squeeze past” people sitting in their seats, you presumably need to “squeeze past” empty seats also, so what’s the difference? and what’s with needing to “squeeze” at all?
Listen to me sound like a Boomer... Back in my younger days, that's how we were boarded. But that was also the era of free flowing alcohol, smoking and butt pinching a stewardess or two....
MythBusters did it and it doesn't work. What works best is window middle aisle but people don't like being broken up with their traveling companions when boarding
The glitch is that they sell seats in the front at higher prices and those people don't want to see the likes of us getting on board before them. So, what has to happen is that first / business class needs to move to the rear of the aircraft.
Whatever they decide, they should put kids on last (let them burn some more energy in the terminal before cooping them up) and let them off first before they lose their minds… Just a thought from a parent! 🤪
My understanding is that boarding has been studied extensively, and boarding by group is marginally the fastest way while providing the greatest chance for overhead storage space. You essentially spread the chaos across the whole of the plan vs localized bottlenecks that delay boarding longer.
People don't like that because the cheap seats are in the back and thus they get last call for overhead bins. Personally I think they should just put the boarding doors in the rear and back the planes in. Probably a good reason they don't.
Airlines have claimed it doesn't work as well as what they are doing now. The truth is it is too stressful for them to enforce it when the "I'm more important than anyone else" riders force their way in front of the llne.
i think it has to do with weight distribution. idk if this is the case for all planes but last time i flew i sat toward the back and as we were getting off the flight attendants asked us all to get up and move to the front of the plane if we didn’t have bags to avoid the plane from leaning
I remember reading a study about the best method for boarding. One of them was “board the window seats” first. I think the boarding rush was made worse by making hold luggage payable. This means most people now have cabin luggages and would “rush” for cabin space (overhead).
While this seems reasonable, the problem is that if all the people were loaded this way, it would throw off the weight and balance for the aircraft leading it to tilt back on its tail until all the baggage is loaded.
This was the practice for several years but it did not prove to be more efficient. Airlines keep trying to find new ways to expedite the boarding process.
But then everyone that paid extra to sit up front wouldn't feel special. The obvious solution is to put first class in the back of the plane, near the stinky toilets.
I always thought there should be some kind of protocol for disembarking. Mostly to let people with a tight change of flights get off first, but also to let people with no overhead luggage get off the plane and out of the way before the other passengers start wrestling with their huge bags.
Having loaded freight aircraft professionally, there may be a problem with that idea, as aircraft have been know to tip nose up from weight in the rear, when there is not enough weight in the front.
Was told by a pilot once that they risk tipping the aircraft upwards if they load up the rear first with passenger weight. Not sure if he was joking or not.
This relies on people respecting others. I've noticed (too frequently) people leaving their luggage in overhead bins near the front (not over their seats).
that would be most efficient, but the boarding process on airlines is about class and hierarchy more than efficiency. what's the point of paying first class if the poors can't see your smug face
Here is another idea: CHARGE a fee for carry-on baggage that is put in the overhead bins and allow small under seat and CHECKED bags on board for free!! That would speed up boarding. It would also add to safety since checked bags are weighed.
Turkish Airlines does it. First class have their own separate air bridge … coach has another which boards from the back. We filled a 300-seat Boeing 777 in 20 Minutes.
Being saying the same for years , other than 1st class getting their drinks on makes no sense that you are walk through trying not to bop people with your neck pillow!( my life last week!)
This is definitely a great idea. It’s reasoning is probably why it will not be ever implemented. It makes too much sense. Don’t look for it at your plane on your next flight.
Here's another idea. Put the same seating arrangement at the gate that exists on the plane (or close to it, I know planes can be different). Then board row by row beginning at the back. It's the "row by row" part, rather than "rows XX through XX" that will help.
This is an actual thing. I worked the ramp for United & Delta. We had to install a tail-stand once in a while because if there were more people in the aft section than in the forward that nose was going to pop up off the ground. Some planes are more sensitive to that than others.
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I don’t mind waiting a bit longer for anyone else though if that helps?
As an American 🏴, I am highly offended that you would suggest something so logical that is clearly more efficient. The wealthy obviously deserve to be seated faster, even if it inconveniences everyone else. 😈
An attendant had decided to serve drinks to the seated 1st class folks, and though there were 2 aisles, most passengers couldn't even board the plane.
An alternative is 'sit anywhere' like on a bus. My first RyanAir flight was like that and it was amazing how fast it was completed and turned around.
What's the difference between a straight man and a bisexual? Lmao
My question is, why do people care so much to be the first to board? I have never understood this phenomenon
Signed
A guy who always flies 1st class
But yeah, basically I just elect to board at the last possible moment.
It's also been suggested to load passengers from a rear entrance for business class but you'd need double staff to welcome them, and the seat numbers already face front. It's less confusing the way it is.
balance is everything
Great minds think alike 👋👋👋
It is also safer-- checked bags are weighed, carry-on is not.
Ultimately airlines will just do whatever lets them charge more, tho, which is arbitrary boarding groups
https://youtu.be/oAHbLRjF0vo?si=UU24mhNVLoNlKLp3
They never have.
progress?
https://youtu.be/oAHbLRjF0vo?si=sUwIwb2aGK702y2b
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/there-are-quicker-ways-to-board-a-plane-so-why-dont-airlines-use-them/#:~:text=After%20hundreds%20of%20iterations%2C%20he,other%20row%20along%20the%20way.