Originally Posted by
exerda
WILMA has been shown to be faster than pure back-to-front in studies, though, and IIRC, PMUA used a modified WILMA which is a bit faster (not quite the inverted pyramid which beats pure WILMA, but similar).
PMUA also didn't separate companions or family members in groups; though they may have had different #s on their BPs--and I'm not sure they did if they were on the same PNR--PMUA nonetheless invited pax traveling together to board with the lowest # (e.g. a group with a pax in a window and in the middle would board with the window pax).
The new Wilma system did work fairly well in spite of the gate agents. The gate at LHR only had 2 aisles, premium and general. And the PA system was so poor that almost no one could hear the boarding announcements. But the Brits are so good at queuing that most people just assumed when they saw the gate agent try to make an announcement that they were calling the next boarding group and queuued up appropriately. There was some confusion, apparently they combined groups 4 and 5, but I didn't hear it. I'm also very impressed with the huge amount of overhead storage space in the 777 (relate to say the 737 or 757), despite the flight being nearly full, there was ample storage space.
In contrast, my United Express EWR-SYR flight on a Q200 did use all 5 groups despite only having a whopping 37 seats. It went smoothly, but I don't see how boarding so few passengers could have not gone smoothly.