Delta simply does not know how to police their boarding!
Feb 16, 2018, 6:26 am
#166
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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.
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.
Feb 16, 2018, 8:17 am
#167
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Does it really? I mean if you get through faster you're just going to wait in the jetway.
Feb 16, 2018, 8:23 am
#168
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Washington, DC
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Speaking of boarding, I'm happy to see the boarding pillars, that DL has been using at DCA for a while now, are now being rolled out at T in ATL. I was talking to the T SkyClub agent last night and she said she didn't like them and it felt like Southwest, but as someone who's DCA based, it has brought so much order to the boarding process. It also forms multiple lines instead of one mob in front of the gate. I hope DL determines this works at ATL so they roll it out system wide.
Boarding a full flight to DCA last night in T, the lanes made the boarding process smooth and efficient.
Boarding a full flight to DCA last night in T, the lanes made the boarding process smooth and efficient.
Feb 16, 2018, 9:47 am
#169
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Feb 16, 2018, 9:59 am
#170
Join Date: Jul 2012
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Exactly. Classic example of two bottlenecks in a row where the process time of the downstream function is the limiting factor. I would rather wait in the gate area than in the jetway. Slowing down boarding may actually improve the overall process in terms of passenger comfort and smooth flow.
Feb 16, 2018, 10:04 am
#171
Join Date: Sep 2003
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Feb 16, 2018, 10:13 am
#172
Join Date: Jul 2015
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Speaking of boarding, I'm happy to see the boarding pillars, that DL has been using at DCA for a while now, are now being rolled out at T in ATL. I was talking to the T SkyClub agent last night and she said she didn't like them and it felt like Southwest, but as someone who's DCA based, it has brought so much order to the boarding process. It also forms multiple lines instead of one mob in front of the gate. I hope DL determines this works at ATL so they roll it out system wide.
Boarding a full flight to DCA last night in T, the lanes made the boarding process smooth and efficient.
Boarding a full flight to DCA last night in T, the lanes made the boarding process smooth and efficient.
Feb 16, 2018, 10:23 am
#173
Join Date: Feb 2017
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I hate the pillars, especially at DCA. I was boarding a flight to ATL at Gate 19 and another flight was also getting ready to board at Gate 21 and the pillars do not work with DCA tight gate areas and it seems to encourage the mob to grow even further than it did before. At Gate 19 specifically, the PREM line is all the way over by the windows and Sky is by the hallway and with everyone in DCA being some type of medallion, the Sky lane was so long that it was blocking the pathway to reach the other boarding lanes.
Feb 16, 2018, 1:49 pm
#174
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I hate the pillars, especially at DCA. I was boarding a flight to ATL at Gate 19 and another flight was also getting ready to board at Gate 21 and the pillars do not work with DCA tight gate areas and it seems to encourage the mob to grow even further than it did before. At Gate 19 specifically, the PREM line is all the way over by the windows and Sky is by the hallway and with everyone in DCA being some type of medallion, the Sky lane was so long that it was blocking the pathway to reach the other boarding lanes.
I do like how they are separating Premium from Sky. I've also noticed people tend to line up more orderly than just the standard general boarding and sky lane.
I left ATL out of T5 last night and there was plenty of room there to make it work.
Feb 16, 2018, 2:08 pm
#175
Join Date: Feb 2015
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At first I was against the boarding pillars... too much like Southwest for my taste. However I have found that for the most past, they have led to more orderly boarding in ATL. I'm typically a Zone 1 boarder due to my DL Amex, with the occasional SKY in C+ or PREM in F. I was in SEA the other day and I was not a gate lice that flooded the boarding area when boarding began. However when Zone 1 was called I was so far at the back of the line that I doubt if I had brought a rollerboard there would've been room. I usually just take a laptop bag for under my seat and check the rest. Fast forward to ATL and the boarding pillars. I lined up rather early, along with others in their perspective lanes, and felt that it went much more smoothly. The only downside I am seeing is that it makes it rather awkward for those who need to ask the GA a question to que up.
Slightly unrelated, and I believe there is another thread about this recently, but I am NOT liking the military pre-board offering. I've seen some GA's open pre-boarding to military either in uniform or with ID. I've seen others not enforce the ID requirement at all. Over 20 people boarded in ATL the other day just walking up and saying "military." I'm sorry, but this severely undermines priority boarding. I think that if you are in uniform traveling on orders then pre-boarding is OK. If you are in civilian clothes, ID or not, board with your zone.
Slightly unrelated, and I believe there is another thread about this recently, but I am NOT liking the military pre-board offering. I've seen some GA's open pre-boarding to military either in uniform or with ID. I've seen others not enforce the ID requirement at all. Over 20 people boarded in ATL the other day just walking up and saying "military." I'm sorry, but this severely undermines priority boarding. I think that if you are in uniform traveling on orders then pre-boarding is OK. If you are in civilian clothes, ID or not, board with your zone.
Feb 16, 2018, 3:49 pm
#176
Join Date: Jul 2015
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How long ago were you at 19? At 19/21 (where the two gates are a few feet apart) They've reconfigured things a bit to keep the two gates separated. There's now a plastic barrier that's "supposed" to make more of a separation. DCA is space constrained and the ATL flights are always going to be a mess. Unfortunately those are also the only gates, maybe 17 as well, that fit the A321.
I do like how they are separating Premium from Sky. I've also noticed people tend to line up more orderly than just the standard general boarding and sky lane.
I left ATL out of T5 last night and there was plenty of room there to make it work.
I do like how they are separating Premium from Sky. I've also noticed people tend to line up more orderly than just the standard general boarding and sky lane.
I left ATL out of T5 last night and there was plenty of room there to make it work.
Feb 17, 2018, 7:59 am
#177
Join Date: Feb 2017
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I think the last time I went out of 19 was back in October. When I flew to DCA in December and January I believe I went out of Gate 15 and 18 and those gates aren’t as bad (but I still don’t like it) It does work a little bit better in ATL but if you are flying on a DM heavy route or a plane with more than 20 FC seats than it can get bad quickly as well. I was boarding a flight to DEN on a 764 out of one of the A Gates and with that being a DM heavy route and having 40 J seats, the PREM lane easily went out into the hallway just as it had before and this isn’t including the other zones off to the side. While I agree that the setup wasn’t great before, it seems like that the pillars encourage more people who would otherwise stay seated to line up instead. WNs system is way better because they only put 30 people in a line compared to DL where a medallion heavy flight can easily have 60 people in one lane. DL did create a new Zone 4 within the last week for BE PAX only so hopefully that helps the rest of the general zones, but it won’t help out the medallion heavy routes where we still have 60 people in one zone. I think that DL should kick C+ back to Zone 1 and Sky would truly be for only GMs/PMs and no one else.
The pillars are 3x better than the old way, especially on busted routes where everyone has status.
Feb 17, 2018, 10:20 am
#179
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Boarding a DCA-LGA flight at gate 19 was a mess. There were 3 of us in the PREM pillar, which surprised me. The rest of the lines had a decent amount of people. When PREM started to board, 4-5 passengers also started to board through the open space that was left for passengers deplaning from gates 19 and 21. Since the GAs didn't care about what was happening, half of the SKY line also moved to the new PREM line while the SKY passengers who remained in the line also tried to board. GAs didn't do anything to stop the 3 lines merging at the podium.
Feb 17, 2018, 10:28 am
#180
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