jshort

Flew MEM-ATL this morning... where they mentioned that, starting today, they were doing a new boarding procedure for the Coach section. Instead of start at the back and work your way forward, they did the following:
Rows 28-31
Rows 10-14
Rows 24-27
Rows 15-19
Rows 20-23
(or something similar)

I didn't see the point in this... since I don't believe that it made the boarding any faster. Also, I am not sure if this was a trial run at MEM or if all AirTran flights are being boarded this way.

Jeff

jabez

Jeff
Are they still boarding elite passengers before all these?

FL_f/a

It's just being tried at a few places at the moment, to see how it goes. The theory is that while rows 28-31 are busy storing their stuff, rows 24-27 are just standing there, not going anywhere. But if you board rows 10-14 next, then they are at their place and get get their stuff in place by the time 28-31 is finished. Then you load up 24-27, etc. It did seem to work well the other day out of Orlando with a compleatly full 737 in less time than it normally takes.
Of course, the passagers hated it.

And yes, we are still going to pre-board people traving with infants, people needing extra time down the jetway, etc. And of course buisness class and elite members may board at any time.

jshort

Thanks for the reply back

After reading that - it does make more sense. The one thing that I did forget to mention is that, as a penalty, if you try to board out of order (i.e. you are in Row 15, but they have only called the back rows), you are to wait until they have called All Passengers / All Rows. Again, not sure if this is part of the original plan... or one that MEM was doing.

And yes... elite, special assistance, and BC passengers are still given priority/courtesy boarding.

FL_f/a

I'm not sure about that, I haven't heard of that happening, but then, I'm usually not around to see the boarding process from that angle. I'll ask around, as that seems a bit harsh, especially with people so used to assuming that if a row lower than theirs is called, then it is fine to board. I know they make extensive announcements about the new procedure, but we all know how often people actually *listen* to announcements, particularly ones that they assume they already know what is going to be said. Would be interesting to see what the SOP is on that.

elektronic

I noticed this on an EwR-ATL flight I had earlier this month.

I suggest if AirTran continues to do this, they should board the exit rows seperately. I was in 21 D and had trouble finding a spot for my bag in the overhead bins since so many of the lower rowed passengers had taken up the space above my seat.

-Jeff

FL_f/a

Well, that's just a 'last person on gets screwed' thing, I guess. Used to be the front of the plane, now it's the middle. That said, I've always thought it would be handy to board the exit rows first to get that briefing out of the way, and to switch seats if necessary. The problem with that would be that there is no guarantee that all your exit seat PAX boarded then, some might sneak on later.

Last check ride I had it was mentioned that we are going to be cracking down on oversized and too many bags. However, even the check-rider told us that unless it was more than 90% full, the best thing might just be to say. “Excuse me ma’am, I notice that you have three bags, which is against our policy, however, because today is a light flight, we can make an exception to the rule.”

rrohio

[QUOTE=FL_f/a]Well, that's just a 'last person on gets screwed' thing, I guess. Used to be the front of the plane, now it's the middle. That said, I've always thought it would be handy to board the exit rows first to get that briefing out of the way, and to switch seats if necessary. The problem with that would be that there is no guarantee that all your exit seat PAX boarded then, some might sneak on later.

NW boards exit rows first and it seems to work out well

underpressure

Count me as a PAX who hated it

FL_f/a

Can I ask why?

Seat1A

it's confusing. people are used to hearing a row number, and assuming they can board if their number is higher. if airtran wants to use a boarding order other than back-to-front, they should switch to group numbers like everyone else.

UAzip

That's a good idea.....the zone or group numbers are getting so common that it would be a lot easier. People don't listen to those all the time though either.....a couple weeks ago for a US flight at CLE, they boarded zones 1 and 2, then zones 3 and 4, then zone 5 but not 6. Of course, all the zone 6 people assumed it would be 2 zones at a time from the 1+2 and 3+4, so they all went up and then blocked it up and had to be asked to step aside for the zone 5 folks. Now I'm not sure why they did 1+2 and 3+4, except maybe they knew that those zones were small in number so they combined them. (1 and 2 are the preferreds, etc., which all used to be one group anyway.)

Anyway, the group or zone numbers would be a good idea......any FL lurkers here who can pass that on?

FL_f/a

My *guess* is that we aren't doing zones because it's just on a trial basis at the moment, not every flight is being boarded like this. I'm quite torn on the issue, because when people actually pay attention to the announcements, the boarding does seem to go faster. But the chances of people actually *listening* (even when the announcement starts out "PLEASE PAY ATTENTION WE HAVE CHANGED OUR BOARDING PROCEDURE") is not so great.

My own idea of what would help? No leaving the seating area unless you have been called. Hate it when everyone is gathered around, and then they call BC and elite.... and it takes them forever to get through the crowd. And then they call the first zone.... and someone it’s all the people that will be called last are still there blocking their way. Why are people so eager to get into a tiny little not overly comfortable seat?

Also I'm a big fan of the 'windows, then middles, then aisles’, but I’ve never actually seen anyone do this.

UAzip

Preach it! I can't understand why people won't listen to the announcements, especially the first-time-ever flyers who you would think would want to be sure to listen to all the announcements. Those folks are often (in my experience) the ones who leap up and block everything. And especially before a looooong flight, I'd rather wait a while and be able to stand and stretch a little more before boarding.

wahooflyer

This sounds great in theory but wouldn't work well in practice...think of all the families with adjacent seats that couldn't board together.