Zone 4!
#31
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: SJC
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A few years ago United was trialing a new boarding process in BOS with those self boarding gates. I talked with one of their industrial/operations engineers who helped develop the process and asked him about boarding groups. To summarize his response: the person who came up with boarding groups starting with premium cabins then the remaining fares will tell you that method is 100% the fastest way to board, in reality the data shows there is no significant difference between any of the methods including random free-for-all boarding.
If it improves the customer experience or perception then to the airlines it's worthwhile, in terms of efficiency it makes no statistical difference.
If it improves the customer experience or perception then to the airlines it's worthwhile, in terms of efficiency it makes no statistical difference.
Of course these days, boarding has become a thing based on privilege as opposed to efficiency anyway. People want to make sure their bag is on board with them. It's nice when you're only carrying a small backpack to board last.
#32
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: DL PM, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 8,414
In what world do you think that boarding time is not the limiting factor for turnaround time assuming the ground crew is moderately on point? On all but smaller regional jets it definitely is. There's a reason Southwest can regularly turn around 737s in 30 minutes (admittedly they don't have any 739s) and it's not because their ground crews are that much faster than Delta's.
Even if boarding wasn't the limiting factor for turn times, a longer boarding window means I have to get to the airport 10 minutes earlier than I normally would because Delta starts boarding their planes at T-40 instead of T-30 and that is a lot when you think about how many flight one takes throughout the year. That's a minimum of 16 extra hours a year for me of wasted time. That's kind of a big deal.
Even if boarding wasn't the limiting factor for turn times, a longer boarding window means I have to get to the airport 10 minutes earlier than I normally would because Delta starts boarding their planes at T-40 instead of T-30 and that is a lot when you think about how many flight one takes throughout the year. That's a minimum of 16 extra hours a year for me of wasted time. That's kind of a big deal.
PVN did not say that boarding times are not a limiting factor, pvn said that boarding times are not a limiting factor as long as they don't exceed turnaround time, so that kind of takes the push out of your pushback. And the Southwest comparison is not really meaningful as DL is a full service operation with a very diverse fleet, so it just takes more time. Also, you could argue that for many, the 10 minutes saved in southwest's boarding process would be taken up by the need to purchase food in the terminal before the flight, whereas for DL you can buy food on board or in several cases be served a complimentary meal.
Last edited by jdrtravel; Mar 3, 2018 at 6:46 am
#33
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The credit card, which makes a lot of sense for the 3-5 times a year flyer, seems to split up the coach masses well enough.
I'm no status and often traveling on sLUT fares and the only time I've drawn zone 3 for boarding was pre-credit card when I booked last minute and it was one of those times when the only seats left to pick were middle backs, and I was playing seat roulette at check-in to see if I'd get assigned something better in general economy as elites got pulled up front.
I'm no status and often traveling on sLUT fares and the only time I've drawn zone 3 for boarding was pre-credit card when I booked last minute and it was one of those times when the only seats left to pick were middle backs, and I was playing seat roulette at check-in to see if I'd get assigned something better in general economy as elites got pulled up front.
Having a DL credit card already puts even coach passengers (not sure about BE fares) without status into zone 1. We're talking about how to assign folks to zone 2 versus zone 3 and to me using fare class as a differentiator seems very reasonable.
#34
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Even if boarding wasn't the limiting factor for turn times, a longer boarding window means I have to get to the airport 10 minutes earlier than I normally would because Delta starts boarding their planes at T-40 instead of T-30 and that is a lot when you think about how many flight one takes throughout the year. That's a minimum of 16 extra hours a year for me of wasted time. That's kind of a big deal.
IIRC, 40-minute boarding of narrowbodies was introduced by NW with the 753s.
#35
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Going from 2 hours to 1 hour for turnaround is huge for utilization, going from 40 minutes to 35 isn't nearly as useful.
Even if boarding wasn't the limiting factor for turn times, a longer boarding window means I have to get to the airport 10 minutes earlier than I normally would because Delta starts boarding their planes at T-40 instead of T-30 and that is a lot when you think about how many flight one takes throughout the year. That's a minimum of 16 extra hours a year for me of wasted time. That's kind of a big deal.
#38
Join Date: Feb 2017
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I guess I should rephrase it a bit. There certainly are tight turnarounds where there isn't any idle time between the arriving pax getting off and the next flight beginning to board, but planes are already pretty much at max utilization with the current boarding process. Cutting 5 more minutes off of boarding now isn't going to let Delta schedule an additional segment per day for their equipment.
Going from 2 hours to 1 hour for turnaround is huge for utilization, going from 40 minutes to 35 isn't nearly as useful.
Going from 2 hours to 1 hour for turnaround is huge for utilization, going from 40 minutes to 35 isn't nearly as useful.
Who says you have to be there when boarding begins?
#39
Join Date: Feb 2017
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PVN did not say that boarding times are not a limiting factor, pvn said that boarding times are not a limiting factor as long as they don't exceed turnaround time, so that kind of takes the push out of your pushback. And the Southwest comparison is not really meaningful as DL is a full service operation with a very diverse fleet, so it just takes more time. Also, you could argue that for many, the 10 minutes saved in southwest's boarding process would be taken up by the need to purchase food in the terminal before the flight, whereas for DL you can buy food on board or in several cases be served a complimentary meal.
For me at least, my food purchasing decisions are never determined about what options I may or may not get onboard. I've never bought food before a domestic flight - whether or not I'm getting a meal on the plane. It's 5 hours, no one is going to die of hunger in 5 hours. I could literally not care less whether or not DL has food on their planes. Just extra garbage calories that usually taste mediocre at best.
#40
Join Date: Oct 2011
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DL has a 'Bags on time' guarantee. How many miles have you collected with the 20+ minute wait? I have only had a long wait at LAX TBIT waiting in customs - where the guarantee doesn't apply.
Last edited by puddinhead; Mar 3, 2018 at 1:20 pm
#41
Join Date: Mar 2010
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I've collected miles several times actually. But even 20 minutes is still 20 more minutes that I am in transit.
#42
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#43
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A few years ago United was trialing a new boarding process in BOS with those self boarding gates. I talked with one of their industrial/operations engineers who helped develop the process and asked him about boarding groups. To summarize his response: the person who came up with boarding groups starting with premium cabins then the remaining fares will tell you that method is 100% the fastest way to board, in reality the data shows there is no significant difference between any of the methods including random free-for-all boarding.
If it improves the customer experience or perception then to the airlines it's worthwhile, in terms of efficiency it makes no statistical difference.
If it improves the customer experience or perception then to the airlines it's worthwhile, in terms of efficiency it makes no statistical difference.
#44
Join Date: Feb 2017
Programs: DL DM, UA Gold, Alaska MVP, Bonvoy (lol) Ambassador
Posts: 2,994
It still means wasting time stopping by the check-in counter, diverting from how I usually exit the airport, still almost guarantees a wait unless I'm in the back of the airplane, and also risks getting my bag lost. I have zero desire to deal with any of that. Way worse than the alternative.
#45
Join Date: Nov 2013
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