Airlines change how they herd us aboard

[question everything]

Airlines change how they herd us aboard

By Roger Yu, USA TODAYTue Jan 10, 7:14 AM ET

(snip)

The motive: Time is money for airlines trying to stick to a schedule and to keep their planes flying as many hours as possible. Traditional back-to-front boarding clogs the cabin by drawing too many people into a confined area at once, says Eitan Bachmat, a professor of Israel's Ben Gurion University of the Negev.

(snip)

The recent changes:

Window, middle and aisle. United now groups passengers at the gate according to their seat's letter designation. The carrier boards window passengers first, followed by those in middle and aisle seats. Passengers traveling in pairs or groups are kept together. Its boarding is now four to five minutes faster, saving the company about $1 million a year, says Robin Urbanski, a spokeswoman.

(snip)

Alternating zones. AirTran's new procedure, introduced last July, boards passengers in the back four rows first, followed by the front four rows. The process is repeated until the cabin is full. Delta Air Lines uses a variation in its new system, introduced in early 2004. The zone that includes the back few rows boards first, then a middle section followed by a front section. It then goes back to a rear section.

Letting passengers board without assigned seats, like discounter Southwest, is very efficient, Bachmat says. In being spread out throughout the cabin, passengers can "sit independently of each other." Even airlines with assigned seating would benefit from random boarding, he says.

(snip)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20060110/bs_usatoday/airlineschangehowtheyherdusaboard

[marmar]

1. I hate that zone boarding...

When you request the aisle, like I always do, almost all the overhead space is taken by the time you board.

[Skink]

2. Puts a crimp on sitting in the wrong seat

[necso]

3. "Herd", good one. /nt