dalehill

I know some folks don't like the pillars, but once again I had the pleasure of experiencing pillars and not pillars. IME pillars, better. Not pillars, not better.

Not pillars at SFO, 739 to ATL. Whole families wearing backpacks and toting roller bags planted firmly 4 across and first in line blocking SKY. They did not move when Prem was called and they were very much in the way. They seemed confused. I don't know what zone they were in but I'd already finished my wine by the time they entered the plane.

The A321 out of ATL had the pillars. We were last to get to the gate before SKY was called and it was *so* nice to be able to sail on through the wide open Prem lane rather than joining a mob a la SFO.

StayingHomeIsBetter

They clearly do not understand the system.

Families with backpacks are supposed to board later in the process.

That way, as they are standing in the aisle, they can turn around to talk to the family member behind them and hit the FC passenger seated in the aisle seat in the face with the backpack.

KDCAflyer

An easy fix would be to move DMs back to SKY.

ethernal

I would be fine with a FIRST -> PREM -> SKY boarding order. I'm hesitant to merge SKY and Diamond as I think that being a Diamond should guarantee space in the overhead bin. While it is rare, I have been on flights where SKY had to gate check bags. And I do think DM should get priority on C+ bins as that is always an upstream struggle if you're at the end of the SKY line.

danielonn

Do we need to go to the Public Transportation Fare Gate approach? You can only board the flight when your zone is called. The Gate Agent just advances the zone and if you enter during the wrong zone the gate buzzes and won't open. This approach serves a few purposes one it will automatically register to the Gate Agent that you are boarded, two it will avoid you boarding the wrong plane and thirdly you board with your zone!

If you need to Preboard the Boarding Pass is coded as Preboard and you enter through the Accessible Wheelchair Gate. Now if you board after your zone is called then you can enter with the other zone or perhaps during the "All Zones " Boarding Call.

Qwkynuf

Has it occurred to anyone that if the airline felt that this was a problem, they would have addressed it already? I think the title of the thread is inaccurate - Delta surely *knows* how to police their boarding, they just apparently choose not to, most of the time.

pvn

I wonder what the venn diagram of "people who are really concerned about who is using a wheelchair" and "people who are really concerned about whether people are boarding with the right zone" looks like.

pvn

(I don't actually wonder, we all know exactly what it looks like)

flyerslc

The wheelchairs don't bother me at all. There are very few of them and if some people want to fake it, OK. The crowds of jerks blocking the boarding area and making the whole process chaotic, disordered and unpleasant are a daily issue at most airports.

rogo

It's so blindingly obvious that Southwest boards its planes better than everyone else. Period.

While there are fewer "zones" on Southwest, the general principles applied should be used by every ... single ... airline.

Their antiquated IT might buckle at the notion of dishing out meaningful numbers to each person based on status, waivers, whatnot.

But it could be done.

"Pillars", "stanchions", "video boards" etc. will tell everyone where to stand and gate agents will only allow the appropriate people on board.

Also, stop hiring gate agents who can't speak at normal volumes. And stop deviating from scripts. Be precise about what it means to be a family traveling with small children, or "extra assistance".

It's simply absurd that Southwest ignores seats (which makes boarding incredibly inefficient because the front and aisles are often taken first), yet can manage to board planes faster, easier, and with less disruption than anyone else.

If this was any other business, the competition would long ago have adopted the best practice of their competitors. Imagine, for example, that someone invented a board for drive-thru food that, I don't know, showed the order you just made on a screen so you could confirm. Would McDonald's be like, "Nah, we don't think so, that's just the ping pong ball head guy going crazy." Of course not. They'd put those boards everywhere.

Ber2dca

I don't know about that as it seems to be an area of constant tinkering throughout the aviation industry and given how key this aspect is to one of the main perennial 'areas of improvement' for airlines - turnaround time.

I think it's more likely that they realize it's something that's not working amazingly well in practice, but struggle to come up with a solution that meets all their requirements in theory *and* practice.

puck021

LOL Since I am both DM and always wearing a backpack, I would suggest that I always get an upgrade to avoid the whole face whacking deal as I walk down the aisle. Avoiding the whole face whacking deal is the thing that I love most about Turn Left flights.

OHDL1

Ummm...anyone hear Basic Economy boarded in Zone 4 today?

ethernal

You're right! They have now added it to this page. Still, I don't see it on any of the TVs or placards or pillars. Wonder when/if they'll update those. I'm genuinely not sure what the point is given that there only seems to be 5 people left by the time Zone 3 rolls around anyways (at least in ATL - may be different at other airports).

wxman22

The difference I see is simply that in ICN and NRT they have more people working and those working are doing their jobs.