{"id":12571,"date":"2023-09-16T14:29:54","date_gmt":"2023-09-16T14:29:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/business\/boarding-a-plane-is-a-nightmare-heres-how-we-got-here\/"},"modified":"2023-09-16T14:29:55","modified_gmt":"2023-09-16T14:29:55","slug":"boarding-a-plane-is-a-nightmare-heres-how-we-got-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?p=12571","title":{"rendered":"Boarding a plane is a nightmare. Here\u2019s how we got here"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\n \u201cWe would like to begin boarding our flight at this time.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n You are familiar with that friendly boarding announcement from the gate agent. Unfortunately, it means the next 45 minutes of your life will be messy. And airlines have made it chaotic by design \u2014 so people will pay to get an easier boarding process.\n <\/p>\n

\n First, passengers begin to crowd the gate queue, causing a bottleneck. Although you told yourself you would sit behind calmly in the waiting area at the airport until your zone was called, you can\u2019t resist. You head over to the scrum.\n <\/p>\n

\n Next comes confusion about which zone passengers are assigned.\n <\/p>\n

\n Zone 1 or Group A don\u2019t actually mean we get to board first. People line up out of turn, waiting for their group to be called. Some passengers cut the line to secure space for their carry-on bag in the overhead bin. Finally, your zone is called and you can scan your ticket and get on the plane.\n <\/p>\n

\n Don\u2019t get too excited though \u2014 the line on the jet bridge is backed up. More waiting.\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n Once you make it through the crawl on the jet bridge and step onto the plane, it\u2019s also backed up.\n <\/p>\n

\n Your seat is in the last section of the plane. You move in fits and starts, jostling your way through the narrow aisle until you\u2019ve reached the row.\n <\/p>\n

\n If you\u2019re lucky enough to find space for your carry-on bag in the overhead, you awkwardly toss it in, hoping not to hit another passenger in the process. It\u2019s still not over.\n <\/p>\n

\n You go to sit down in our window seat, but someone is in the middle. They have to get out and move into the aisle, holding up the line behind you.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cBoarding a plane is the 21st century version of Lord of the Flies,\u201d said Henry Harteveldt, who covers the travel industry for Atmosphere Research Group. \u201cThe airlines created this complexity and this insanity.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Here\u2019s how it became so disorderly, and why it isn\u2019t more efficient.\n <\/p>\n

\n That panic over faster boarding and the guarantee of an overhead compartment isn\u2019t a bug for the airlines. It\u2019s a feature.\n <\/p>\n

\n Sure, airlines could make boarding better for everyone. But what\u2019s better for the airlines is to make boarding better only for some people. The people who want to give them even more money.\n <\/p>\n

\n Carriers have recognized that they could make even more money to people willing to pay a fee for priority boarding.\n <\/p>\n

\n There\u2019s internal tension between airline marketing teams that are focused on maximizing revenue from boarding and operations teams that want the process to run more efficiently, said Robert Mann, an airline consultant and former executive.\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n \"Crowded<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n \u201cBecause there\u2019s so much money on the credit card and frequent flier side, the marketing people win and the operations people have to deal with it,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Additionally, planes have gotten larger and are more frequently booked up thanks to improvements in airline analytics. And some carriers have reduced the number of agents at the gate, because more agents means more people the airlines have to pay.\n <\/p>\n

\n Despite various boarding strategies and techniques over the years from airlines, the process is still a nightmare.\n <\/p>\n

\n Bag fees and loyalty programs
\n<\/h2>\n

\n Getting on a plane wasn\u2019t always this complicated.\n <\/p>\n

\n Decades ago, airlines used to board first class and use an open boarding process for the main cabin. Passengers could check bags for free.\n <\/p>\n

\n But in 2008, amid soaring fuel prices, airlines began charging passengers for checked bags.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThat\u2019s when things began to go off the rails,\u201d Harteveldt said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Passengers started to carry on more bags to avoid paying a fee or wait to pick up bags at their arrival.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cAirlines figured out they could make money off of bags. That killed any efficiency to do faster boarding,\u201d said Massoud Bazargan, a professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, who studies airline scheduling and operations.\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n \"Precious<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n Last year, airlines collected nearly $7 billion on bag fees, according to the Transportation Department.\n <\/p>\n

\n In response, airlines started selling valuable overhead bin space to travelers willing to pay for earlier boarding. Airlines also began dangling credit cards, frequent flier programs and loyalty programs they could all sell to people who wanted boarding priority \u2014 something that wasn\u2019t really necessary before with a system that mostly worked before the industry broke it.\n <\/p>\n

\n By 2012, carriers began introducing basic economy fares and offered priority boarding for a fee.\n <\/p>\n

\n All these newly-created segments of passengers meant airlines needed to separate them during boarding. Companies introduced a new lingo of different boarding zones and groups, slowing down the process.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe more zones and groups of boarding, the longer it takes,\u201d Bazargan said.\n <\/p>\n

\n Changes in the airline industry to improve airlines\u2019 profitability have also impacted boarding.\n <\/p>\n

\n Aircrafts have gotten larger and with denser, cramped seating to accommodate more travelers. Flights are also more frequently packed, clogging up boarding.\n <\/p>\n

\n Last April, passenger load factor \u2014 the ratio of passengers to seats available \u2014 was 84%, a jump from 74% in 2000, according to the Transportation Department.\n <\/p>\n

\n Airlines have been experimenting with different boarding schemes to try to speed up the process. But none have found an optimal boarding method.\n <\/p>\n

\n Some airlines have tried to board passengers with window seats first, followed by middle seats and then aisles \u2014 known as Wilma. But companies abandoned this method because it split up families and was chaotic for people boarding late.\n <\/p>\n

\n Boarding from the back to the front also hasn\u2019t gone smoothly.\n <\/p>\n

\n This method causes congestion in the aisle as people look for their seats and store their luggage in the overhead.\n <\/p>\n

\n Jason Steffen, a University of Nevada, Las Vegas physics professor developed a boarding method that boards passengers in rows of two.\n <\/p>\n

\n
\n \"Will<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n The Steffen Method allows several rows of passengers to store their luggage simultaneously and minimizes the time it takes to load luggage. This method can cut the boarding time by nearly half.\n <\/p>\n

\n But airlines have not implemented it. This method requires strict quality controls over where people stand in line and interferes with boarding strategies based on travelers\u2019 status.\n <\/p>\n

\n If airlines wanted to speed up the boarding process they could make it free to check bags, reduce the number of zones, and switch to open seating.\n <\/p>\n

\n Southwest Airlines has the fastest boarding process of any major airline by simply allowing people to claim the first available seat. It works because passengers spend less time waiting in the aisle, and have more freedom to sit where it\u2019s least crowded.\n <\/p>\n

\n But airlines are unlikely to switch to Southwest\u2019s model.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThey don\u2019t want to do random seating,\u201d Bazargan said. \u201cThey would deprive themselves money from seat assignments.\u201d\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe would like to begin boarding our flight at this time.\u201d You are familiar with that friendly boarding announcement from the gate agent. Unfortunately, it means the next 45 minutes of your life will be messy. And airlines have made it chaotic by design \u2014 so people will pay to get an easier boarding process. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12571","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\nBoarding a plane is a nightmare. Here\u2019s how we got here | Prosfunds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cWe would like to begin boarding our flight at this time.\u201d You are familiar with that friendly boarding announcement from the gate agent. Unfortunately,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?p=12571\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Boarding a plane is a nightmare. Here\u2019s how we got here | Prosfunds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cWe would like to begin boarding our flight at this time.\u201d You are familiar with that friendly boarding announcement from the gate agent. Unfortunately,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?p=12571\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Prosfunds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-16T14:29:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-09-16T14:29:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/230915092151-01-airline-boarding-biz-restricted.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"News Room\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"News Room\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?p=12571#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?p=12571\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"News Room\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bab8f1b00ccebe43e39ff640793108e6\"},\"headline\":\"Boarding a plane is a nightmare. Here\u2019s how we got here\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-16T14:29:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-16T14:29:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?p=12571\"},\"wordCount\":1133,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Business\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?p=12571#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?p=12571\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?p=12571\",\"name\":\"Boarding a plane is a nightmare. Here\u2019s how we got here | Prosfunds\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-16T14:29:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-16T14:29:55+00:00\",\"description\":\"\u201cWe would like to begin boarding our flight at this time.\u201d You are familiar with that friendly boarding announcement from the gate agent. Unfortunately,\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?p=12571#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?p=12571\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?p=12571#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Boarding a plane is a nightmare. Here\u2019s how we got here\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/\",\"name\":\"Funding Factories\",\"description\":\"Latest Finance News and Updates\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Funding Factories\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/ff-dark-logo-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/ff-dark-logo-1.png\",\"width\":780,\"height\":140,\"caption\":\"Funding Factories\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bab8f1b00ccebe43e39ff640793108e6\",\"name\":\"News Room\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/avatar_user_1_1693518183-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/avatar_user_1_1693518183-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"News Room\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Boarding a plane is a nightmare. Here\u2019s how we got here | Prosfunds","description":"\u201cWe would like to begin boarding our flight at this time.\u201d You are familiar with that friendly boarding announcement from the gate agent. Unfortunately,","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?p=12571","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Boarding a plane is a nightmare. Here\u2019s how we got here | Prosfunds","og_description":"\u201cWe would like to begin boarding our flight at this time.\u201d You are familiar with that friendly boarding announcement from the gate agent. Unfortunately,","og_url":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?p=12571","og_site_name":"Prosfunds","article_published_time":"2023-09-16T14:29:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-09-16T14:29:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":450,"url":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/230915092151-01-airline-boarding-biz-restricted.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"News Room","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"News Room","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?p=12571#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?p=12571"},"author":{"name":"News Room","@id":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bab8f1b00ccebe43e39ff640793108e6"},"headline":"Boarding a plane is a nightmare. Here\u2019s how we got here","datePublished":"2023-09-16T14:29:54+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-16T14:29:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?p=12571"},"wordCount":1133,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Business"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?p=12571#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?p=12571","url":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?p=12571","name":"Boarding a plane is a nightmare. Here\u2019s how we got here | Prosfunds","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-09-16T14:29:54+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-16T14:29:55+00:00","description":"\u201cWe would like to begin boarding our flight at this time.\u201d You are familiar with that friendly boarding announcement from the gate agent. Unfortunately,","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?p=12571#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?p=12571"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?p=12571#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Boarding a plane is a nightmare. Here\u2019s how we got here"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/","name":"Funding Factories","description":"Latest Finance News and Updates","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/#organization","name":"Funding Factories","url":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/ff-dark-logo-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/ff-dark-logo-1.png","width":780,"height":140,"caption":"Funding Factories"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bab8f1b00ccebe43e39ff640793108e6","name":"News Room","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/avatar_user_1_1693518183-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/avatar_user_1_1693518183-96x96.png","caption":"News Room"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/prosfunds.com"],"url":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12571"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12573,"href":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12571\/revisions\/12573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prosfunds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}