Fraser

Maybe I don't fly Delta enough to understand why this might be an improvement but to put C+ above Sky Priority seems madness.

I fly AA as my primary carrier within the US and given their changing up of the boarding process several times in recent years it seems the number system is the easiest to understand. Joe Blow who bought their fare on Orbitz because they saved $5 over Delta's website doesnt' know what a Premium Select or Sky Priority is. But unless they're borderline illiterate they can understand that Zone 6 comes after Zone 5...

Robert Leach

As cramped as most gates are already, I am curious to see how they find space for the new Comfort+ sign/lane.

Gig103

It doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

D1 is above Diamond, but FC is not.
C+ is above SkyPri instead of mixed in

Edit: My point in these two points is that with C+ Delta is prioritizing the class of service purchased over elite status, but not domestic FC.

And at the end of the day, they had the chance to go to a straightforward numbering system like AA, but threw in a ton of words and more zones which means the pillars are going to get more confusing or disappear (and I like the pillars). Using a bunch of words leads to confusion in international departures, and leaves leeway for "confused" people "accidentally" jumping their zone.

ethernal

We're saying the same thing. Random boarding is an approach to achieve what I stated (mixing boarding across different areas of the plane). Random boarding is only fast because it achieves that objective.

It will never be used by an airline like Delta but something like the flying carpet is empirically faster than even random boarding (although not by that much).

KevinDTW

This. And if you base boarding order on "branded fare purchased" don't be surprised when people expect you to deliver what they've paid for, even if it is inconvenient for a GA.

3Cforme

I would like to see the data for that.

One can argue that boarding efficiency isn't Delta's only decision criterion. They want to make people feel special - and to encourage their buy-ups to First and Comfort+ so they can feel special. Look at all the posts across FT where air carriers and hotels fail to meet certain customers' expectations for feeling special enough.

LegalTender

+1

Don't forget early calls for "all active duty and retired military" - which no one checks.

Biometric boarding is the only long-range remedy.

KevinDTW

DL is not looking merely for the fastest boarding process, but for the fastest commodified boarding process.

ethernal

I recognize that it is not Delta's criterion. In fact, Delta is explicitly saying as much in the announcement - nowhere do they reference speed as part of the approach. That said, to me they should strive for more of a balance. They are going too far in the tilt of selling a boarding order in exchange for slower boarding which - to me - is inherently frustrating.

In terms of the data - I don't have the specifics, but based on how the US majors board, they are certainly the slowest. Southwest will be fast, both American and United mix their groups more (Elites + other groups simultaneously + not boarding C+ inherently after First), and United uses WILMA after elites board (which, while not perfect, is faster than Delta's fare-class based approach). Delta also has the longest scheduled block for boarding on their planes as well (40-55 minutes) which is reflective of the slow boarding process.

xliioper

How is D1 above Diamond? Diamonds gets to board with D1 or FC groups (depending on aircraft type). There isn't a specific "Diamond" boarding group. DM's will have either D1 or FC boarding group listed on their BP.

Gig103

USA Today wasn't clear that diamond also got to board with D1 when it was available. Apparently on the diagram from delta it says that.
​​​​​​The diagram also has numbers. I wish they'd just use those.

AdamATL

I hope they are not planning to get rid of the lanes where passengers can line up ahead of time. That seems to speed things up quite a bit. But, at most airports, things are already pretty cramped so I don't know where they plan to add the additional queue.

Lyaec350

This clearly benefits non-status flyers who have purchased C+, and probably will incentivize more C+ upsells (I know if a non-status friend or family member were flying for a reason they wanted to make sure their roller bag stayed with them, I'd highly encourage buying up to C+).

I also wonder about doing away with numeric zones in the international sphere where non-English speakers may be very confused by "Comfort+", SkyPriority etc rather than a much more simple 1,2,3

Too bad they didn't just go to a strictly numeric system that they could modify however they want down the road. To me this would make the most sense:

Preboard (people with wheelchair attendant and ONE family member only, not announced overhead but instead discreetly done at gate since they wheelchair attendants are there anyway, but this is a whole separate issue)
Parents (max 2)+ children WITH STROLLERS
Military (active duty, in uniform)
1- D1/FC
2- DM
3- C+
4- PM/GM
5- SM/Amex
6,7,8 - Main Cabin
9 - BE

Also, it seems one of the worst contributors to gate lice and congestion are the extended announcements and prolonged preboarding process. So often the scripted announcements are mumbled in to a low quality overhead paging system which half the gate area can't hear so everyone stands up to see what's happening.

PV_Premier

Many DL airports and gates don't even have this as it is. And personally, I don't think it helps. It encourages people to stand up and be in the way. What DL needs to figure out how to do is incentivize people to not be gate lice...not find new ways to encourage it.

This new process looks like a complete joke to me. A different shade of "poo". All that DL is trying to do here is marketing and upselling -- buy a more expensive ticket, board sooner (plus all these other sweet perks! ). And clearly again demonstrating that if you aren't DM, you're dirt.

xliioper

The problem is that the DL Amex cardholders have been told the following for many years --
"Card Members are entitled to receive Zone 1 Priority Boarding on Delta flights"

Main Cabin 1 at least still has a 1 in it, whereas Zone 5 would almost certainly cause confusion.