Originally Posted by
baccarat_king
Well, Delta
also boards by Zones; so, if the
evil 
merger does go through, I'm going to guess that Zone boarding will be the common procedure for the new DL/NW.
Perhaps; we can only hope. I agree that I do find that to be a more pleasant feature of flying DL as compared to NW, when I have to fly with the unwashed masses in the back of the bus...although as a NW Plat I'm able to board in an early zone even on DL.