For goodness sake, stop queuing!
#31
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orbitmic ... I wonder why Check-in lines and Group Boarding seem to work so well (IME) in the USA? Surely they have the same queueing habits as Europeans?
#32
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But if passengers do not work with your system, this surely is a sign that your system is not good as you think it is (i.e. is not a "great system") and does not take into account how people actually behave in the real world as distinct to how you would like them to behave in an ideal world.
#33
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Just wishing people to be different to what they are is rarely a particularly successful strategy, IME.
#34
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Nope. "Gate lice" is the term used on the AA board, and it describes the general swarm of people towards the gate. By the sounds of it, it is easier to swim upstream through a scrum of people than a queue.
#35
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Forgot to mention a third one, partly linked to what orbitmic said regarding outstations: US airlines tend to rely less on handling agents than European airlines and, therefore, GAs are usually more familiar with the boarding protocols of their own airline.
#36
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It is, because people in a scrum don't carry the sense of entitlement to place as those positioned in a queue - even the wrong queue.
#37
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IME, notwistanding the moans on US airline fora, it still seems to me that the boarding process works somewhat better in US airports than European ones. Two things, it seems to me, make it different: usually, there is more gate space than in Europe. Secondly, the boarding process also tends to start earlier, which gives GAs a little more headroom to enforce boarding procedures.
#38
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I find the way BA vaguely places the priority lane signs at outstations where they don't use tensa barriers and sometimes inadequate seating at the gate causes a lot of this confusion. Especially for people who aren't flying every week. Air Canada has it's own issues but generally the way they place the boarding group signs is clear as to where people are to line up
#39
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Most people who fly within the USA will speak at least some English. I noticed that the problem many gate agents have in European airports is that many passengers simply do not understand them. Many people will not understand what these signs and numbers mean and why they can't board first if they've been waiting for so long at the gate. Most people don't fly every week and don't understand the class/status system. Many airports are simply not laid out in a way to support the complicated boarding system.
#40
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IME, announcements at outstations are usually made in English and in the local language.While there will, admittedly, be some passengers who speak neither, this IME generally represents only a small minority of the passengers flying BA at most European out-stations.
#41
Join Date: Dec 2015
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People queue because the don't want their (sometimes oversized, sometimes within limits) hand baggage sent to the hold.
Is that simple.
Make an announcement before boarding that all hand luggage will be taken on board and will fit in the lockers and no-one will queue.
This was very clear years ago when people will only queue for Ryanair / Easyjet flights as for full-service companies it was almost guaranteed that your luggage will make it in. Now that there is no difference people just queue regardless of airline.
Is that simple.
Make an announcement before boarding that all hand luggage will be taken on board and will fit in the lockers and no-one will queue.
This was very clear years ago when people will only queue for Ryanair / Easyjet flights as for full-service companies it was almost guaranteed that your luggage will make it in. Now that there is no difference people just queue regardless of airline.
#42
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Most people who fly within the USA will speak at least some English. I noticed that the problem many gate agents have in European airports is that many passengers simply do not understand them. Many people will not understand what these signs and numbers mean and why they can't board first if they've been waiting for so long at the gate. Most people don't fly every week and don't understand the class/status system. Many airports are simply not laid out in a way to support the complicated boarding system.
#43
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And in the US you don't select a check-in point based on your destination, you simply line up and then take the first available agent, who can handle all flights. Simple!
#44
But if passengers do not work with your system, this surely is a sign that your system is not good as you think it is (i.e. is not a "great system") and does not take into account how people actually behave in the real world as distinct to how you would like them to behave in an ideal world.
The people who design and implement systems have no need to make the right thing they only need to satisfy the person with the checkbook.
The wages of the person commissioning the work are seldom impacted by the long term ROI of the customer satisfaction or efficiency of the systems they commission.
Designing a system that takes into account the mistakes people will naturally make is called Human Factors Engineering.
Designing a system that works with peoples nature to provide a satisfying result is called User Experience Design.
While many systems have one or the other or both of these as specified requirements it is often the case that only lip service is paid to it.
When it comes to arranging some tensa barriers in a preconfigured gate space I suspect little thought is put into either.
#45
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Preveza - LHR: absolute Zoo!!!!
rows 34-36 at the front, then some silvers, then some parents with <1 y olds, then the general public, then some more parents with <2 y olds,then some golds, then more general boarding, then some parents with pushchairs who weren't listening, then me!
jeez!
sort it out BA!!!
rows 34-36 at the front, then some silvers, then some parents with <1 y olds, then the general public, then some more parents with <2 y olds,then some golds, then more general boarding, then some parents with pushchairs who weren't listening, then me!
jeez!
sort it out BA!!!