Boarding back to front, F last?!
 

Some news commentators have suggested that airlines should or will start boarding back to front, with F boarding last. Is AS or any other airline actually doing that or going to do that? I would be pissed if flying F (or the up front MCE/Economy Plus etc. seats), only to find the overhead bins filled with the carry-ons of E- passengers!

I'd be pissed if flying F and having 100 strangers slow-walk by my fancy seat sneezing or coughing in my general direction :)

Most E- passengers probably prefer to keep their bags close to their row, so unless it is a full flight I think your worry is unwarranted.

I have no idea what boarding order AS has implemented since I have no travel planned for the near-term, so why would I care.

Besides everything said directly above this, AS is above average at policing the OHs, especially in F.

And it's not like you're going to be missing out on a PDB, or quite frankly, ever really were.

If this is something that pisses you off right now in our current conditions, I'd highly recommend staying home.

edited to add: UA is already doing this, not sure of others.

IIRC, 20+ years ago, BA would board the plane this way, at least for short haul. It surprised me, but the FA told us that many of the business travellers preferred to board at the last moment. Some lingered at the lounge, others arrived at the airport just in time. I suggest that the security procedures post-9/11 and the desire to offer consistent experiences across alliance loyalty schemes have led to the elimination of this variant of boarding.

No chance at a PDB, light loads = less competition for overhead space, dozens of potentially ill people walking by...

I fly in a few days and I'll get on last regardless of how AS boards F.

Going on last seems like a privilege?

Although I boarded early my last two flights (SEA PDX and back on 737s), the announcements were that FC could board at their leisure (implying we did NOT have to board first and be subjected to passengers walking by) They also said they would board by rows, back to front. I just cannot tell you if they really did that. But, they did try to encourage folks to leave space between as passengers walked down the aisles. FC still gets a water bottle on both short and long haul flights. Nothing else on short hauls, delipak and snack baskets were offered on my SEA CHS out and back flight. Also, with all the empty middle seats, there is PLENTY of room in the OH, keep in mind that FC is only 50% full.

Love it. This is my goal on every flight. Have the door close behind me as I get on. No thanks sitting and wasting time.

If you’ve ever flown JAL, or CX, you’d know that this is what they do already prior to COVID. Frankly it makes boarding a lot faster I don’t know why we don’t this already

I guess I might be slightly annoyed if I was group A or B while not in F and had to gate check my bag to the luggage carousel on the other end as a result of the overhead space getting gobbled up. But otherwise why would you object to this? This is clearly safer. And I can't imagine Alaska letting the non-F people use the F overhead space before the F passengers have boarded.

Actually just take out the other clauses. Basically you would be annoyed if there was no overhead bin space.
The difference between other passengers (in E- as you say) is that they don't have that sense of entitled that they deserve the overhead bin space.

It's safer to board back to front. I was seated in F last time I flew AS, with 5 passengers on the plane, boarded last, and also didn't sit up front (other people up there), because it just is safer that way.

Sounds perfect. I often prefer to board last in F and certainly would prefer to do so while COVID-19 remains prevalent. The FAs could simply close all the F overhead bins during Y boarding (and could even consider leaving one or two "buffer" bins in the back just in case the F bins fill, although it seems this would less likely be a problem while loads are lighter on many flights).

My preference would be to board last for pretty much any flight I was on. Doesn’t matter if F, J, or Y.

Only reason why I can’t always do this is to secure overhead bin space (mostly domestic flights in Y), but that doesn’t seem to be an issue lately.

I would imagine most airlines would reserve the F bin space for F if they did this. It is a simple solution. I have purposely boarded last many times, even in economy seats in the back of the plane when I know I don't need a bin. There's enough sitting.

I think it's a great idea, as long as FAs keep the overhead bins closed to anyone other than F, all airlines should do this.