Boarding times have grown exponentially over the decades. Forty years ago, planes were smaller and perhaps passengers were more manageable, but much of the boarding bloat is self inflicted, and it negatively impacts us all: airline companies, flyers, shippers, and the environment.
The Favored and the Damned
Travelers are separated into two types when they reach a departure gate. Some board early due to an exception; for instance, they are frequent flyers or paid extra for their ticket. And then there are those who must wait until all the first class, business class, elite, club, plus, premium, priority, priority-plus, priority-priority, comfort, stretch, squat, mollycoddled, cosseted, advantaged, and entitled have boarded.
First boarders are generally calm, superior in the knowledge that their suitcase will be accommodated by the overhead bin and that they will be comfortably seated long before the second boarding group even approaches the climate-challenged jet bridge to haltingly advance like a staggering millepede inching forward.
The second group generally have low to no status. They can be seen glancing anxiously at their ticket trying to figure out what Main 1 or Group 5 holds for their fate, only to realize that, generally, it means many people will board before them.
Arguably, this group has an advantage—late boarders spend less time cramped in a seat, huffing stale air on a grounded plane. The upside is lessened, however, by the stress of worrying about the capacity of the overhead bins. Full planes generally cannot accommodate all the carry-ons, and so last-to-loads may have theirs taken away to fly in the belly of the plane, or they may be asked to hold a coat on their laps and cram hand bags and backpacks under the seat where they had hoped to put their feet.
Chaos by Design
Years ago, economy boarding was commonly based on seat assignment. The last ten rows were called first, then the next ten rows, then the next, until those in the first rows of economy boarded last. This was moderately efficient as it segmented the plane by last rows first, and recognized that the narrow aisle only works when everyone goes in one direction.
Nowadays, beyond early entry for families or those with disabilities, boarding is based on status. Status is something you buy either directly or earn indirectly through frequent flying or memberships; generally, it allows for early boarding regardless of where the beneficiary is seated. For instance, someone in aisle seat 12C could be boarding before window seat 54A.
Adding to the mayhem, many planes charge to check a bag, which is one reason more people bring all their luggage into the cabin. This increases the chances that the overhead bins fill up, causing suitcase holders to wander to the back of the plane looking for an empty space to stow their generously-portioned carry ons. Successful in finding a bay for their bag or not, the stower then pushes back through the narrow aisle trying to reach their assigned seat in an earlier row, knotting up the whole process.
When boarding is inefficient, passengers spend more time on a plane, and airlines spend more time on the tarmac instead of flying. This increases the airline’s costs, reduces passengers’ goodwill, and has a negative environmental impact. It also abuses flight staff. In the US, the costs of not flying are compounded because the crew generally are not considered “on the clock,” and therefore not earning pay until the plane door closes. These workers lose income while flyers dither in an unnecessary queue pile up.
Why create so much loss, stress and delay right before the flight leaves?
Gate Wait to Gate Mate
If we follow the request of airlines, many of us arrive at the airport with one or two hours to spare. Let’s use that time to line up before the flight in reverse order of where we will be seated.
Just as we deplane like a giant zipper sliding closed as we leave our seats, onboarding would close the zipper to single file from the gatehouse to the aisle, and then the zipper would reopen as we take our seats.
Say there are 28 rows and six seats across each row, with one aisle down the center. To file on in fan formation, 28A would be at the head of the line, followed by 28F, followed by 28B, followed by 28E, followed by 28C and then 28D. Then 27A, 27F, 27B, 27E, 27C, 27D, and so forth.
Typically, business and first class are in the front of a plane and, therefore, would board last as they have the lowest seat numbers. Undignified? Not at all. Premium tickets cost a lot of money, and spending more time on a public plane is not an advantage. These deluxe flyers get to arrive at the airport or the gate later than everyone else, spending more time in their airport lounge or stretching their legs, before having to board.
Flying on an Airbus A380, which has two aisles and 10 seats across, in economy? Simple, there are now two lines at the gate instead of one. The first line comprises A-E ticket holders and the second line F-K.
Confusing? Sure. The average passenger will struggle to work this out. But there’s so much time sitting at departure. Rather than feel antsy and swarm the gate, we could put our energies into being productive. But we don’t need to leave this to collective spirit alone.
Gate seats at the airport could be labeled with the corresponding plane seat, taking account of the different types and sizes of planes by including more than one seat number. Everyone sits in their designated seat number/letter at the gate, and then as their neighbor rises to board, they file behind. Gate sitters would rise like a wave as they move toward the plane.
If the fixed seating currently in airports is not conducive to orderly labeling, then a digital display could be projected onto the gate carpet or floor, indicating where each person should stand in their seat number and letter “box.” A video display could show a diagram of how to board and how to read the various numbers that may correspond to the size and type of the plane flying that day.
It should be noted that this is a step further than the currently popular practice of zone or group boarding. Zone boarding does introduce efficiencies but it doesn’t go far enough as it still allows the disruption of priority boarding and separates passengers into bulk groups to board rather than an orderly one-by-one file on.
The Early and the Late
Two groups who may benefit by assistance and extra time will be invited to board before the choreographed zipper begins: people with a disability and those traveling with very young companions.
Some people will be late and their row will have boarded without them. Those who miss the first round of seating will simply wait in their assigned gate seat or floor square until all are boarded. Only then will the second wave of passengers go on in the same order as the previous column. A smaller zipper enters the plane.
Preparing for Take Off
Priority boarding fees are one of many ancillary services that supplement ticket prices. How much money this particular offer generates for the airline is difficult to measure. The opportunity to board before others can be bought directly, but it might also be rolled into another benefit such as loyalty rewards or credit card membership, which makes it harder to portion out each revenue stream.
Revenue reporting varies by available research, but ancillary services are undeniably material; some sources estimate that flyers annually spend as much as US$100 billion on extra services worldwide. Therefore, while efficient boarding might require a mindset shift for flyers, airlines would likely reject any change that appears to eat into profit or revenue growth.
But how much money is earned by priority boarding versus spent when a plane is parked on the ground unnecessarily? Direct costs to the airline include airport fees, ground crew wages, and fuel; indirect costs are incurred by airlines, flyers and shippers due to lost productivity; and increased carbon footprint and emissions pollution lead to environmental costs.
There are many reasons why planes wait at the gate: cleaning, fueling and baggage loading; grounds crew staffing shortages or flight staffing delays; runway congestion; weather. Arguably all of these reasons are either necessary time spent or realities beyond an airline’s control. Therefore, airlines should focus on the waste they can manage and get passengers on board quickly.
This is part of a series of improvements for the travel industry. You can find a smarter approach to flyers’ luggage stowage at This Cannot Carry On.
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Robin D Rusch, Robin Rusch
