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Business
Class Travel »Airline Boarding Strategies
Airline Boarding Strategies
The arduous process of airplane boarding
is experienced daily by millions of passengers
across the globe. It is true that Airlines
have experimented with a variety of boarding
strategies aimed at reducing the gate turnaround
time. Airline executives do everything possible
to speed up boarding, if even by just a
few minutes, to introduce additional flights into the day.
This is a common scene witnessed by all
when a planes departure is announced.
Eager passengers line up outside the gate
even before passengers on the incoming
aircraft have even deplaned. The boarding cardholders rush down the jet way,
with suitcases in tow.
Ever since all domestic carriers instituted
checked baggage fees, passengers are carrying
more bags, scrambling to get space in
the overhead bin. Passengers jostle their
way in order to be the first one to board
the plane. But with a little more planning
by the airlines authority, one can secure
a seat as well as bin space.
Passengers with disabilities and those traveling
with children are decidedly at a disadvantage
as they would need extra time for boarding.
To overcome this problem, US Airways devised
a plane boarding order to ensure fair
play:
- Passengers with disabilities and those
traveling with children
- Frequent Fliers and Star Alliance Gold
elites from partner airlines
- Silver elite members, US Airways credit
card holders, and passengers who paid
extra for Choice Seats
- Economy passengers who checked in online
- Economy passengers who checked in at
the airport
Another strategy adopted by most US Airways
is to use the standard Rear-to-Front boarding.
Boarding is done in the order - Elite passengers,
followed by first and business
class passengers.
Seats in the rear part of the plane are
boarded followed by the middle section and
then finally the front area.
It is widely agreed that one of the chief
causes of time-delay for a commercial airline
is passenger boarding time. Reducing boarding
time, however, is proving difficult since
it directly involves the passengers. By
assigning passengers to groups or zones,
the airline obtains some marginal control
on the boarding process.
In September 2003, America
West Airlines implemented a new aircraft boarding
strategy that reduced the airline’s
average passenger boarding time by a few
minutes. The strategy, developed by a team
of Arizona State University and America
West Airline’s personnel, was a hybrid
between traditional Rear-to-Front boarding
and Outside-Inside boarding
used by other airlines. They termed it as Reverse
Pyramid boarding system.
The reverse pyramid-style meant:
- Zone 1 - seating the top frequent flyers,
along with Star Alliance Gold elites from
partner airlines.
- Zone 2 - Star Alliance Silver elites
- Zones 3-5 were designated for non-elites.
- After elites and passengers requiring
extra assistance had boarded, US Air would
board back windows first, then back middles
and front windows, and so on.
- With the reverse pyramid, passengers
simultaneously load an aircraft from back
to front and outside in. Window and middle
passengers near the back of the plane
board first; those with aisle seats near
the front enter the plane last.
The reverse pyramid style was proving to
be an efficient boarding system. But from
May 2009, most US Airways have discontinued
the reverse pyramid boarding style and resumed
to use the standard Random
seating order,
giving preference to elite flyers and then
to those who checked in online.
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