puddinhead

That's the best time to board - I don't travel with a backpack or rollerboard plus I'm in an aisle seat in FC or EC so there is no reason to get on early and be subjected to getting smacked in the head by every fifth passenger's carry-on. Only problem is the occasional seat squatter but that is another thread.

Years ago I realized that if I get on as the FA is hitting me on the a$$ with the door I'l arrive at the same time as the first to board. And the jet way is clear by then so no standing in a cold/hot tube.

Start_at_UIN

Is that A6 @ STL? It's always a F'ed up mess.

The Situation

Sitting in those chairs made me appreciate EWR. If that's not a sign of the apocalypse, I don't know what is

Proudelitist

WN's horrific system causes other headaches...line jumpers, line licing (b's crowdiing the lines to be ready before A's are done), confused kettles lining up out of turn, and EBCI seat saving scams.

ethernal

Not sure I understand the hate about the pillars. What's the objection to them? People will still crowd the gate. At least with the pillars it's easier to board with your zone. Flying out of Atlanta during peak hours usually means about 75-100 people with SkyPriority, so at least the pillars mean that it's a little easier to board in PREM without having to push through a crowd. If anything people that hate gate lice should love it - it means they can sit down until the PREM (or SKY) is almost empty and then just walk through it - as opposed to trying to parade through a bunch of SKY people when PREM is almost done boarding.

bergamini

I initially liked the pillars but I had less than an ideal experience with them last Friday night (Sat AM) on the LAX>MSP red-eye from T2. First, wow, T2 is a dump. I've only ever been in T3 since the switch. I lined up in the already formidable SkyPriority line. I was in a B752 C+ row with no seats in front so I needed bin room which is normally not an issue for me and why I normally am last to board if I'm not up front. Anyway, I digress. Most of us lined up in the SkyPriority channel in a nice vertical line. They called us and then all of these swarming people just sort of merged ahead of us. They had arrived later and had not been waiting in the SP line. I'm from Wisconsin, we believe in lines and not cutting. It drove me nuts to see 1-2 dozen people "merge" ahead of those of us who got into the proper line. Not amused. And I really had to squish my backpack into the overhead bin because, not surprisingly, it was quite full when I finally got on the plane.

ethernal

That is crappy behavior but quite frankly is a result of not usually having the pillars (in my opinion). SKY gate lice are used to being in an blob sort of intermingled with PREM and Zone 1 passengers - and then it's a "dodge and duck" path through the blob to get to the gate (because they have to cut through the zone 1 people desperate to get a chance for overhead bin space since flying out of Atlanta in Zone 1 means a risk of checking a bag). Everyone does this (because they have to slip through either SKY or Zone 1 passengers) so the concept of a line is sort of lost on people. If the pillars were instituted everywhere this tendency/forced habit would go away.

I came from flying United and the United boarding process is much nicer than Delta's (in my opinion) because of the dedicated lanes on virtually all flights except RJs. I'm 100% for the pillars.

vincentharris

Ding ding ding we have a winner, impressive on getting that.

GeorgeBurdell

LAX gates 25 and 26 in Terminal 3 October 25th. My flight to ATL was delayed. Gate agents at 26 told everyone to get in line 45 minutes before departure. Flight to MCO at Gate 25 was departing in the same time frame. Note the adjacent Premium lanes for both gates. Was hard to figure out the commingled ATL and MCO FC lines and who was lining up for which. Given the locals sense of humor, the comparisons between the gate area and the 405 were flying. What a mess!
I also got a laugh in another flight out of LAX where the pillars for zones 1, 2 and 3 were so close together that the pax would have literally had to squeeze through to board.

dalehill

I love the pillars. At least they're a start in sorting out where to stand and where not to stand. I suffer badly from sciatica. Standing relieves the pain; staying seated until my zone is called is painful. Walking is fine, but the terminals I frequent are usually a zoo (LAX/ATL/SFO). Too often the DL app announces the flight is boarding, so we amble to the gate and guess what? They're not boarding. Sometimes they're not boarding for 20 minutes, half an hour, or more. I suppose I could go stand by the trash bins or up against the wall next to the bathrooms instead of in my line, but why would I want to do that when I can just go stand in my zone line? At the gates where they've taken out seating in favor of putting in some concession or other, there is often nowhere to sit anyway. So if people have to stand, they may as well stand somewhere in the vicinity of where they'll eventually need to go. At least the pillars break the one huge mass of confusion into several smaller masses of confusion.

tanglin

I think the pillars help to reduce the number of people boarding in a different zone to their assigned one (99% of the time a zone before their own). Psychologically I think the lice self separate into the right zone.

Now if only the GAs would enforce people not boarding out of sequence, the lice problem would dramatically reduce, I think.

Proudelitist

Self policed? Hardly. Line jumpers abound, not to mention the old EBCI trick where one buys it and saves seats for their high C companions..and GA's that don't bat an eye when A54 boards with A32. Most people around a WN flight are kettles who are too ignorant to do self policing of a system they don't even comprehend.

The very boarding line process itself is just a crowded gate lice situation with a half hearted attempt at order.

Start_at_UIN

I'll PM you where to send my trophy.

sethb

Worth a JWD if they demote them to Zone 4 for trying.

pvn

I don't see why you think that. There's nothing to indicate there is a large number of zone-breakers.