Originally Posted by
WHBM
Do come to the UK where both Easyjet and Ryanair do their turnrounds in 20-25 minutes all day long, and have done for years; Easy A319s have 156 seats, Ryanair's 737s have 189 seats.
Yes, and it rains here as well (of course ! ) and we have wheelchair pax here too. And there are a minimum number of groundcrew, who are usually handling agent staff rather than direct employees (even if they have been given the airline uniform to wear that day).
Incidentally, in the time it takes many airports to manoeuvre a jetbridge up to the aircraft, these two airlines have probably got most of the passengers off already.
You are missing my point. I still contend from my own personal experience that elderly passengers and those with disabilities need help boarding and deplaning. I stand by my statement that Skybus will not turn an airbus with 156 passengers in anything close to 25 minutes. JetBridges are fast and efficient. Additionally we at JetBlue use aft mobile stairs in conjunction with jetbridges at many of our downline stations and we cannot make these turns. Additionally it may rain in the UK and Ireland but neither country is subject to the seasonal temperature extremes that are common in the US. Parts of upstate NY recorded 20 feet of snow this past winter.The extremes in the weather will not only slow down airstair boarding but make it downright miserable.