chasbondy

All the bread and water you want

theblakefish

Can one pre-purchase restroom access at the self-boarding gates now?

767400

I have never had the GA's at E4 all line up and take a bow before boarding like the Asiana crew at HKG! ^

chasbondy

>>>>I also like airports like HKG where airlines can have 5-6 pretty young bodies>>>>

I hope you mean females and I'm glad SWA doesnt fly to HKG

Wiirachay

I prefer a trap door opening.

bocastephen

Serious question - are these gates designed to block non-Elites from the EA line and stop people from passing the gate until their row number has been called?

If not, it's just creating chaos.

Ethicist

And when the gate doesn't open and the passenger stands there with a dumb expression like "what do I do now". How long will that line continue to grow.

It is like asking the people on a Newark/NY bound plane to stay seated so that connecting passengers can get off. It ain't going to be pretty.

Awtas

Also what would happen if person is not CO elite but *G.
Let's say I'm *G (from SK) and using my CO FPP# for my trip(to get miles to my CO account).
My boarding pass will not have *G but I still should be able to board with all the CO Elites.

bocastephen

I like the trap door or groin-kick idea or maybe a bunch of electrically-charged skin-piercing needles that poke out instead of the gate opening, but short of doing something that could potentially raise the ire of personal injury lawyers, I'd think a clear, electronic voice that says the following would do the trick:

1) Sorry, this line is for Elite Access customers only. Please step aside and use the general boarding line

2) Sorry, we're currently only boarding rows xx-xx. Please step aside and be comfortably seated in the gate area until your boarding priority has been called

raehl311

I was boarding an Air India flight in BOM a week ago and they called rows 1-6. 100 people got up and got into line. When the shuttle buses we got on got to the plane, I was one of 3 people of the 100ish that actually had a seat in rows 1-6.


But, I figure a big red light and a loud buzzer along with an "exit" lane for those not eligible to board yet should be enough social penalty to keep people from boarding before they are supposed to. That's actually a big advantage of automation - when customers deal with employees, they get mad if the employee enforces policy. "Why are you being mean to me?" But if the customer is dealing with a machine, they expect the machine to rigidly enforce the policy because they expect the machine to be "dumb".

sbm12

Not gonna happen.

bocastephen

There better be some way to handle these issues - or as I wrote, there will be chaos.

choster

Anyone who has patronized a supermarket, library, or other venue featuring self-service lines knows that reality is slow.

The 3 minutes I save in the shorter grocery checkout line is eaten up with 3 extra minutes of locating barcodes and canceling accidental double-scans and the aggravation of error beeps. Don't even get me started on tourists and subway/metro faregates. And with electronic bp's, there will be zoom fiddling and screen protector wiping time for Kettlephone du jour.

Of course, this is mainly about reducing personnel costs, not speeding up the boarding process. But as with IVR, checkin kiosks, and OLCI, I don't feel any need to be an early adopter.

gawhite411

And an electronic shield around the whole area in front of the gates until the boarding actually starts. No more gate lice. This will become more important after the UA merger. UA gate lice are insane even on the red carpet.

leiserom

I was on a flight a few weeks ago at E4. I tried to use it but without luck. You have to drag a carryon thru the thing. Too much trouble. Anyway one of the GA is wife of friend of mine and I have known her a long time. I reminded her about the time her and her future husband got blitzed at my employers Xmas party. she has settled down since then.