Two Airlines Seek Timelier Passengers

Passengers on United Airlines and US Airways flights who are running late to the airport will have to run a bit faster to make their flights under new policies designed to have more planes arrive at their destinations on time. Both airlines are trying to close plane doors five minutes before the scheduled departure time.

"The idea is to improve on-time performance and also to reduce the hassle in the boarding process," said Joe Hopkins, a United spokesman. "If you get the plane out on time, it is going to arrive on time, which all our market research says is very important to customers. And why penalize the 179 people already on for one person?"

Under United's Time to Go policy, all ticketed passengers should be seated 10 minutes before the scheduled departure time, giving gate agents five minutes to board standby passengers and handle standby upgrades to first class. Each airline sets its own rules on when passengers with reservations can lose their seats. At United, reservations are subject to cancellation 20 minutes before departure, Mr. Hopkins said. The US Airways deadline is 10 minutes.

US Airways adopted the new rules on June 15, copying a policy United Airlines began in April.