HofstraJet

Just happened again now in CLT on AA 2057. Uniformed agent took phone from GA and invited the one CK to board before me and another wheelchair. CK looked embarrassed and shrugged his shoulders as he boarded. I asked GA about this and she said that’s how it is always done.

Oh well. Doesn’t adversely affect me but the inconsistency is annoying.

jtav559

OP, I think you will find the procedure to be consistently inconsistent. When you have a few thousand GA's across an entire network, with varying degrees of experience, skill, empathy, ability to improvise effectively, willingness to bend the rules to accommodate certain pax, etc.... you are going to get quite a mixed bag of results.

I would hope that CK's who travel as much as they do to recognize these sorts of situations where a single pre-boarding passenger who could genuinely use the extra time to get aboard and settled, allow said pax to go ahead of the CK. Seems some CK's upthread mentioned they do this in practice when possible. But on the other side of the same coin, CK's are entitled to whatever perks that AA decides to bestow upon them (even in the haphazard and non-uniform manner we have seen said perks be applied). Can't lay the blame at a CK's feet for trying to use their perks when AA's admin of them is.... occasionally flawed.

brianz24

I am also a CK and have had all of the experiences you listed. I also agree that the last one is my favorite, though very rare.

Increasingly, my experience (particularly in CLT) has been the "We now invite CK to board, and wait .5 seconds before calling group 1", then getting lost in the fray of the zone 1 queue. It never ceases to amaze me how long people will wait and how much effort they put in to being at the front of that queue. And yes, I have had the group 1 passengers look at me like I am a felon for daring to try and board when called. I have also seen near fist fights break out over who gets to board first.

When I first received CK, they would call my name prior to boarding or someone would quietly escort me on the plane. I think that's a much better way to do it and causes less stress for all. That said, training seems to be the issue. Many GA's do a good job of waiting -- they know how many CK's are expected to board. Unfortunately, I encountered a GA last week who seemed to be poorly trained. She called for CK's, waited all of 3 seconds and called group 1. She then took my head off, telling me that I needed to get to the back of the line and wait like everyone else. When I showed her my BP, she changed her attitude and allowed me to board. The most ironic part was the gentlemen who had scored the 1st position in the priority line mused, "We are all arriving at the same time". Really? That's why you fought so hard to be first in line?

AA is clearly free to choose the boarding procedures for their flights. The CK pre-boarding is the procedure they have chosen; it's quite disappointing to experience how very inconsistently it is applied. When it works as intended, it is probably my favorite perk of CK. It's very nice to be able to hang back and avoid the insanity of the priority boarding lane.

mvoight

I agree. If AA decides to publish a boarding order, gate agents need to know what that order is, and they need to follow it.
I say that, as NOT being a CK or EXP.....

They also need to allow a large enough gap between groups to avoid confusion.
or...........maybe they have lines like WN.... so people get in order of boarding group in advance rather than bunch at the line entrance and block the earlier groups
..

Uzzar

I was also in CLT today (Flt 1756) and they loaded 4 wheelchair passengers then waited for the porters to return with the chairs before calling CK's and going through the groups. This is by far the most often way they load flights in my experience, but obviously not all GA's follow the same script.

giants_fan

I am also a CK, and found the same variability as mentioned above. Most times, wheelchairs and other preboards happened first, especially if flights were running on time. Last week, I gave up a confirmed upgrade in favor of a coach aisle seat that would get me home four hours early (DFW-MCO). The CK agent called me up, and apologized for missing me on my arriving flight, etc. She asked me to stand at the front of the priority lane. They then called wheelchairs, and two of the three came up, with the third coming from further away. They then pointed at me and threw me on the plane, back to my near-the-back seat. I had my stuff put away, and was seated, before anyone else got on board. If they had kept me waiting until all of the preboards were finished, I'd have waited patiently, and all would have been well. As long as I'm not in the scrum, as mentioned before!

I don't even bother standing in the Priority line. I will often wander up to the front or the side, waiting in the wings, in a spot where I can walk behind the gate agents, or pass through a tape, or something... at least so I can catch their eye when they call CK, so they'll pause before calling the groups. I'm more conscious of this when I don't have a checked bag. If I've checked, then sometimes I'll be the last to get on!

HofstraJet

Hope my posts didn't come across as blaming the CKs - it's certainly not their fault that AA does this.

Though now that I realize this may happen, I will be sure to ask the GA if the CK is in the same row on the same side as me and if so, inform them that the CK may want to wait until I board (I always take a window so that any other pax in my row don't have to climb over me as I can't really get out of the way).

JDiver

At DFW Gate A37 Monday afternoon, the Gate Agent’s used the PA to request an attendant to board a passenger with a wheelchair. They may have made a call as well, but all I saw and heard was the PA use. As no wheelchair assistant responded, they began boarding Group 1 and onward.

Poor coordination on behalf of AA or Eulen (I think, at DFW), it appears.

ijgordon

I feel like there are 10 active threads on the AA forum about this in one form or another...

David Wheezer Stacy EA

I was told in CLT that CK's were boarded before any special needs pax. I pay for 1st class. I was even told once, "you're already in 1st." That's not the point. I don't remember the last time flying coach and have been disabled since 2018. The only time I really get any extra time is if there are wheelchairs and a couple of times CKs were boarded before them.

mvoight

What if you are in 2A and the preboard is in 2C?

EDIT: This seems to agree with you https://www.transportation.gov/sites...%20Final_0.pdf
However, if economy boarding is held up for technical reason, and there are no preboards for fist class, I don't see there isn't exemption to allow boarding the first class section plane. Equally if first class cannot be boarded due to maintenance, whatever, and the preboard is in first class, it would be foolish to hold up economy boarding while waiting for the first class issue to be fixed. If people are eligible for preboarding, it seems if a wheelchair bound person has an aisle seat, it would be more useful to board them last. That is, preboarded if in a window seat, and boarded last if they are in an aisle seat. But, I wouldn't expect logic to always rule govt regulations....

mvoight

duplicate

Efrem

Somebody doesn't know the difference between "scrum" and "scum." Check a dictionary.

MasterPlanner

Wait-- what?! I haven't had a PDB (or my suit coat hung) in FC multiple times this year. Thought that had gone by the wayside so am more than happy to hear that's not the case...

JSSAUCE

I have paid closer attention in CLT and indeed have been offered boarding prior to those needing special assistance, very uncomfortable. But in both cases it was a wheelchair passenger waiting on someone to push them down. I offered to do so but was told I could not. My brother is disabled and needs varying levels of assistance from an aisle chair, to wheelchair, to walker, to a cain, it all depends on his condition at the time of travel. In any case I have decided to not board early prior to those needing assistance, in the CLT case they kept boarding and the wheelchair passenger boarded very much later in the process. Be mindful people, you might be one of those in need of special assistance one day!