Originally Posted by
dorisrpas
In the boarding area, instead of two aisles, go to three aisles. One aisle is reserved for BG 1 (or whatever) to use whenever they arrive, so pretty much empty after the initial boarding period.
That's actually a really good idea. No need for 5 lanes (or whatever the new design has); all you need is three:
-BG1 (available to use at any time)
-Current boarding group
-Next boarding group
After the Blue Carpet lane is boarded, then boarding alternates between the two other lanes. BG2 loads while BG3 lines up; after BG2 is done, the GA starts loading from the BG3 line while BG4 starts lining up in the lane formerly used by BG2.
This would need to be supported with a GIDS mounted above the two alternating lanes with a clear demarcation of which lane is which and which is updated as each new group is called. (At outstations without the resources to install GIDS, a replaceable placard denoting the same can be instituted in a sign mounted on the stanchion; the time required for the GA to pause boarding to replace the placard would serve as a perfect default pause duration between boarding groups.
)
Also, I'd love to see the GIDS screen have, for example, an arrow pointing to Boarding Group 2 in the left lane, Boarding Group 3 in the right lane, and then a note below that saying "Boarding Groups 4-5, please remain seated."