Boarding soon after inbound landed
Mar 17, 2019, 12:49 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 373
Boarding soon after inbound landed
Today’s LHR to Malaga arrived at 13:04. I was waiting in group 2 to board the return Malaga to LHR flight which started boarding around 13:10. It seemed odd to me that boarding was announced so soon after the inbound had arrived. However, between 13:10 and 13:35 we stood on the jetway - we finally departed the gate around 2pm. Is this process new and why were we stood on the hot jetway watching cleaners and ground staff getting on and off instead of waiting in the gate area? Any BA staff know?
Mar 17, 2019, 12:52 pm
#2
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Today’s LHR to Malaga arrived at 13:04. I was waiting in group 2 to board the return Malaga to LHR flight which started boarding around 13:10. It seemed odd to me that boarding was announced so soon after the inbound had arrived. However, between 13:10 and 13:35 we stood on the jetway - we finally departed the gate around 2pm. Is this process new and why were we stood on the hot jetway watching cleaners and ground staff getting on and off instead of waiting in the gate area? Any BA staff know?
Mar 17, 2019, 12:56 pm
#3
Join Date: Jun 2015
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I have had this happen on this route, it’s not unusual. But I also don’t know why the ground staff do this, hopefully there’s a reasonable explanation. It’s quite annoying especially if you’re group 1 or have kids/elderly or wheelchair users.
Mar 17, 2019, 12:58 pm
#4
Join Date: Oct 2005
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There has been a slight change to boarding, but you should not be boarding that early.
The process is that the gate team starts boarding so that the first customer arrives at the aircraft door just in time or with no more than a minute or so wait, depending on the length of the jetty. At T5, some gates have long jetties, so boarding time allows for up to 6 mins from calling group 1 until the first customer reaches the jetty. If there is an issue, then the dispatcher should notify the gate to hold boarding until told. For short haul, the aim is the have the first customer on aircraft at -28 (think we have -24 for some A319 turns at LHR) and for long haul it is -38.
There appear to have been some issues with this based on reports from crew but a 20 minute plus wait is not acceptable.
The process is that the gate team starts boarding so that the first customer arrives at the aircraft door just in time or with no more than a minute or so wait, depending on the length of the jetty. At T5, some gates have long jetties, so boarding time allows for up to 6 mins from calling group 1 until the first customer reaches the jetty. If there is an issue, then the dispatcher should notify the gate to hold boarding until told. For short haul, the aim is the have the first customer on aircraft at -28 (think we have -24 for some A319 turns at LHR) and for long haul it is -38.
There appear to have been some issues with this based on reports from crew but a 20 minute plus wait is not acceptable.
Mar 17, 2019, 1:10 pm
#5
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Thanks all. There were a few families but in peak summer Spain heat that jetway would be like an oven. Most wheelie bags were being taken off passengers at the gate, too, with the ground agent advising “the aircraft is full”.
Mar 17, 2019, 2:04 pm
#6
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I'm also someone who gets very annoyed at this practice, which is creeping ever more into the system. As reported by SpeedbirdLHR it now happens at T5 when it almost never used to be used, but I agree the wait on the airbridge in LHR is usually very short - often the dispatcher just goes to the door, checks and returns to open the gate fully. At other places it can be standard practice but can also involve a long wait on the airbridge. When you see air conditioning units added to the airbridges then you can see the containerisation of humanity goes one step further. In the Nordics it is standard practice for all the main airlines, so BA gets caught up in this, and there can be 10 minute waits quite frequently - and of course it feels longer. BRU has been mentioned too, it's also common in Iberia, both the airline and the geographic landmass.
None of this, to my mind, encourages people to be at the gate early, for regulars it has the opposite effect. What amazes me is how meekly Group 1 accepts this treatment, many passengers seem to have no issue with it.
For the OP, I'm not at all surprised at AGP, though 20+ minutes is silly.
None of this, to my mind, encourages people to be at the gate early, for regulars it has the opposite effect. What amazes me is how meekly Group 1 accepts this treatment, many passengers seem to have no issue with it.
For the OP, I'm not at all surprised at AGP, though 20+ minutes is silly.
Mar 17, 2019, 2:19 pm
#7
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 3,592
They do this a lot in Spain. ALC MAD, BCN, AGP from personal memory. Had it happen at TLL DUB ARN and GVA too. As the s/h turnaround is relatively tight without any room for error, any delay from outbound flight eats in to an ontime departure. The dispatcher at TLL on Friday was trying to get her hands on the aircraft PA for people to take their seats ASAP but the purser was having none if it. This was during the boarding process. Heard her also ask for a boarding complete PA to be made while passengers were still boarding and getting ars*y when the Captain advised on the PA we would need to de-ice prior to departure. Got the distinct impression aircraft safety and security played second fiddle to an on time departure at this outstation. Presumably this single measure accounts for whether or not they've done their job.
Mar 17, 2019, 2:25 pm
#8
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Every avianca flight I’ve ever been on (except from LHR) does this. Heat not an issue of course in bogota but was miserable in Lima. It’s an absurd practice to do this intentionally and another reason why short haul flying in Europe is becoming the worst in the world.
Mar 17, 2019, 2:49 pm
#9
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Slightly different but same idea at krk, we get loaded onto the bus and the driven closush to the aircraft and wait. After 5 or ten minutes we complete the journey on the bus to the aircraft.
seems to all be driven by trying to reduce turnaround times
seems to all be driven by trying to reduce turnaround times
Mar 17, 2019, 2:59 pm
#11
Join Date: Apr 2014
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The primary reason for doing this is that it allows the gate staff to process the passengers through the gate readers whilst other services such as cabin cleaning are in process. The simple fact is, is that when an aircraft is operating on a minimum ground time, then the ground staff will have to do all that is possible to make the most efficient use of every minute.
The big manta behind the scenes is 'RTG' = Ready To Go, i.e, the doors have to be closed 5 mins before STD/ETD (It used to be 3 mins). Failure to do so results in penalties for the station, that is why the ground staff push so much and I afraid On time performance is king at the moment within BA.
The big manta behind the scenes is 'RTG' = Ready To Go, i.e, the doors have to be closed 5 mins before STD/ETD (It used to be 3 mins). Failure to do so results in penalties for the station, that is why the ground staff push so much and I afraid On time performance is king at the moment within BA.
Mar 17, 2019, 4:44 pm
#12
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CTA, I'm looking at you!
Having said that, after engaging in very interesting conversations with highly intelligent people while 'stuck' in that annoying situation (precisely because we were annoyed), I do see them as opportunities to get to have a fascinating conversation. It's still annoying though.
Having said that, after engaging in very interesting conversations with highly intelligent people while 'stuck' in that annoying situation (precisely because we were annoyed), I do see them as opportunities to get to have a fascinating conversation. It's still annoying though.
Mar 19, 2019, 10:05 am
#15
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 140
Had the same at Krakow as well, last week the incoming aircraft had arrived late and passengers could be seen deplaning from the remote stand on to buses, gangway and stairs to bus duly filled for boarding, with the bus then sitting outside the plane awaiting cleaning etc.