flarmip

I recently completed a TP run to the US, which involved several AA domestic sectors. On every single occasion, boarding for the AA flights started exactly when the boarding pass said it would. Gate agents called up PRMs and families first, followed by ConciergeKey members and then each group number in order.

Boarding was orderly and completed quickly, with clear labels that the overhead bins in First / Business were for customers of those cabins only. Every single flight pushed back exactly on time and arrived early.

Contrast that with the experience on my connecting domestic flight upon arrival at LHR. First a 20-30 minute delay because BA decided to perform an aircraft swap that would guarantee a late departure (inbound flight scheduled to arrive 25 minutes before our departure). No gate indication - not even A, B or C gates - until 15 minutes before departure, even though the inbound aircraft had already arrived on stand at T-30. Chance to relax in the quieter B gates GC denied as a result!

I get to the gate at T-5 and even though the display says "now boarding", I'm directed to sit down. Group 1 boarding begins some 20 minutes after departure, but not before group 4-9 passengers with a second item of hand luggage have been invited to jump the queue to gate-check their cases. All this time, the orderly queueing system laid out through Tensabarriers stands unused, with crowds building up around the gate instead. Meanwhile, I could have been sitting in the lounge!

Musical chairs ensues onboard, as many groups have been split up due to the middle seat being opened up in CE. Hand luggage squeezed into any locker it will fit, regardless of class. We finally get underway 1h35m late after a minor shouting match between the dispatcher and flight crew. Paperwork problems, apparently.

The difference between the uniformly civilised and punctual AA boarding experiences and slapdash chaos on the domestic BA connection could hardly have been more stark. Obviously the plural of anecdote isn't data, but I've never had a BA boarding experience remotely as good as those I had with AA.

Does anyone at BA care? LHR T5 is their home airport and terminal; one despairs if they can't even be bothered to get it right there. Some serious management focus needs to go on getting the basics right.

Now this isn't going to make me stop flying BA, and I guess that's all that matters to IAG at the end of the day, nor is AA all sunshine and rainbows (just a PDB and pack of nuts on a 1 hour flight?!). But it's still frustrating that BA is shooting itself in the foot in this manner.

BearX220

Embedded in your closing thought is the answer to your why-not-improve? query.

VSLover

and usually with only 2 gate agents compared to the 2/3/4 i see for a basic domestic boarding shambles from LHR.

steveholt

I will just say that if you flew AA more often, you would not have the lovely boarding sequence you experienced as often.

HogwartsExpress

This is a bit of a rubbish argument IMO. The aim for BA or any other company, especially for something as simple as this to organise, should surely not be �you can be as bad as the punters will tolerate before they go somewhere else�.

AJNEDC

Why should BA care, if you and others are not going to stop flying them? They are not shooting themselves in the foot. It is more a situation akin to what one USA ex president said when he stated that he could shoot people on 5th Ave and people would still support him. Until you and others decide to vote with your pockets, there is no need or incentive for BA to improve.

ecaarch

Unfortunately, this is the corporate think that we have to deal with these days. And it's not your imagination. One of my siblings is CFO of a Fortune 50 service business and they actually do studies to see how much customers will tolerate before they walk. And then they set their policies to go right up to, but not over, that line. No doubt IAG does the same.

ijgordon

Yup, the plural of anecdote is not data. Pretty sure AA has some of the worst operational statistics of the US majors.

steveholt

Not basing it on data, although every airline will have issues in the big picture. My own anecdotal AA experience is chaotic boarding, agents who don't do anything to stop basic economy passengers from boarding with first, and a widespread habit of Y passengers putting their bags in the F bins. I'm happy it isn't the case for others, but it has been consistent and unfortunate post-pandemic.

Misco60

My experience of boarding AA flights in the US (and there have been a lot) matches that of the OP: punctual, orderly and smooth.

The boarding of my delayed BA flight at T5 today was a disorderly mess, as usual.

ORDflyer92

As someone who flies AA predominantly, I will say that they differ from BA and most European airlines in that they take push back time very seriously and do everything they can to board efficiently. BA at T5 will often start boarding a wide body 15 minutes before scheduled departure with no announcement or reason why, sometimes with even crew standing around confused at the scheduled boarding time, at least in my experience (with BA being my second most flown airline). But it seems they pad arrival times so much that when this happens, the flights still arrive on time. Probably the most annoying thing for me on BA boarding, especially on narrow bodies, is that gate agents are obsessed with making sure normal sized carry ons fit in their size bucket. I've been delayed before because they stop every passenger and make them shove their bag in that thing before allowing them to board.

steveholt

I've had this happen on AA more than once over the last year! I literally went to board as an Executive Platinum in First Class on a fullsize jet and still had the agent insist that I put the bag in the sizer. Even worse, once I had successfully gotten the bag into the sizer, the agent wasn't even looking and boarded five more people before they looked back at me.

Visconti

Ah, I really don't mind BA's boarding process, unless they stick me with the bus thing. After going through that several times in succession (what are the odds?!), it's disorganized, everyone's confused, and just an overall miserable experience all around. Even China has declared it embarrassing not to have a jet bridge for their flights. They're right!

So, except of the Eagles nest in LAX, I'm not aware of AA bussing pax to their flights. I just don't understand how a city like London in this day & age are still bussing pax around.

golfmad

I fly a lot with American Airlines. The boarding process is very consistent and better than BA. The punctuality is hit and miss. When it works well, it's a smooth experience but if an inbound is delayed - as often happens as the day progresses - the information at the boarding gate often says "Boarding in 0 minutes" for a considerable period of time. Overall I prefer the way that AA does it but it's not quite the panacea presented by the OP.

AJNEDC

Wait till you fly with Lufthansa from Budapest. I flew out last week: at the gate, the agents didn't just perform size checks for carry-ons; they also conducted weight checks. They ruthlessly screened passengers in the departure area, resulting in numerous travelers having to check their carry-on bags. Their strict enforcement was so thorough that entire sections of overhead bins were left completely vacant. In fact, I observed the overhead bins on the right side of the aircraft, from row 16 to approximately row 24, were entirely devoid of luggage.