I like this change. It means I can be assured of overhead space even if I am in row 1. All I have to do is be near the front of the boarding line.

I recently flew SAN-JFK-PSE-JFK-SAN and experienced all three. In SAN it was all at the same time. At JFK back to front and from PSE to JFK dual boarding and I actually boarded the plane from the back, which was a first for me. From JFK back to SAN it was again back to front. The flight from SAN to JFK was not that full so it wasn't a big deal boarding all at once, however, I can see some issues with boarding all at once with a full load. One thing that bothers me is that when the gate agent announces "now boarding rows 19 to 26" all the passengers on rows 1-18 stay right next to the entrance creating an even a bigger mess! I can see people wanting to get overhead space but we're all boarding the same plane! To each his own, but that's why I usually fly with bags that fit under the seat, everything else gets checked in. It makes my flying experience a bit less stressful.
Just my .02

What you experienced was jetBlue's experimentation with several boarding processes to see which works best.

I agree with you about storing carry-on bags under the seat in front of me and checking other bags (although I hate checking when I don't have to), however, keep in mind that when you have nothing under the seat, this greatly increased the legroom and you'll really have a comfortable flight. I just hate when people stuff bulky winter coats, hats, small shopping bags, etc. into the overhead bins which leaves less space for larger bags - if you're one of those people, please wait to place your smaller items up there AFTER all larger ones are there...there will be space since they are small and can often fit on top or inbetween bags!!!!!

We try to catch the winter coats during the winter season for just that reason. Usually with full flights we will make the announcement and make several passes through cabin to pass the word to hold on to coats until all are boarded.

I've seen the all-at-once boarding on my last few flights and it does seem to work faster. I'm not exactly sure why, but if it gets the flight out earlier, I'm for it.

Last week, my flights arriving in (#199) and departing (#200) LAS didn't use the rear door. The rear door used to open fairly quickly after arrival for de-boarding and boarding was done through both doors unless it was a very light flight. I'm not sure if there's a new process or if there was a reason my specific flights were different this time.

Well, if normal group boarding has 5 or 6 rows boarding at a time, that's about 5 or 6 people that can be stowing their bags and getting into their seat at a time.

Free for all boarding means you can potentially have people from 30+ rows loading their carryons and getting into their seat at the same time. This is why some airlines have all window seats board first, then the middle seats, and then the aisles. Instead of pushing 30 people into a 5 or 6 row area, let 60 people get on and do their thing across 30 rows; there's way more space this way.

Put another way, there's no need to waste the time for people to begin sitting in rows 1-15 just because people in rows 16-30 haven't sat down yet.

This past week I flew ROC-JFK-ROC. Both flights were general boarding which seemed to go faster than by rows as in the past, even including the occasional clueless passenger slowing down the process.

On previous flights where boarding was by rows, flight attendants were parked in the aisles helping passengers load their bags overhead. Neither flight did any FAs assist anyone. Maybe general boarding makes pax more anxious and quicker to complete the task? We did take off early on both flights and got in early, not something I've experienced much with JetBlue in the past.

Some flight attendants will still help load bags into the overhead. The company does not require us to do this because several flight attendants have been severely injured lifting customers bags. Many will now just assist the customer, customer lifts and we guide. It is hit or miss on whether or not the flight attendants will help. When I'm incharge of the cabin (flying the F1 position) I always tell my crew to do what they feel comfortable with as I don't want any of them getting injured and thus delaying a flight.

Thanks for the input, JetBlueFA; much appreciated info. Not a criticism in my post that no FAs were helping load the overhead bins - just an observation which makes me wonder since no FAs in the aisles, it makes boarding more efficient?

Sometimes having us out in the aisle will help speed up the process a bit. I like to ask the customer if they need help with the carryon, and if they say "yes" then I ask where they are stitting and tell them to have a seat while I store their luggage in the overhead. The one thing that would extremely speed up the boarding process is, get ready to sit down before you enter the aircraft! When I fly I always have my book, IPod, and anything else I need already in my hand or in the carryon that is going under the seat. That way all I have to do is put my roll-a-board in the overhead, 10seconds to accomplish. Some people find their seat, sit their carryon on the arm rest and take up the whole aisle while they are looking for their magazine or whatever. Do this before you get onboard.

There are still a few cities that, no matter how we do it, boarding still takes forever. PBI and MCO are the 2 that come to mind, whether going or coming, they always take forever to board. There's nothing we can do about it so if you are coming or going to these cities, be prepared.

To my surprise, my experience with the boarding process on several recent jetBlue flights can best be described as "pandemonium."

Wow, I thought that is how the Southwest flights can best be described at boarding time!

Were you leaving NYC? Because in my experience, flights out of JFK, LGA or EWR on any airline are always like that - New Yorkers love to rush. And as a New Yorker myself, I am patient...most just don't get it that the plane won't leave without them!

Not to mention now NW is using this boarding process to board all of their aircraft. First they board those needed assistance, Elite and exit rows next, followed by everybody else.

To the original question... I would describe the current jetBlue boarding process as a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get/how your gonna board the aircraft. (That and sometime you love what you get and sometime you just hate it)

I just expereinced a new one last weekend... board from the front door only at LGB... they boarded like this...
Row 20 and higher, Row 15 and higher, all rows.

Interesting, I have never seen a single boarding door procedure at LGB. One of the stairs must have been broken. Normally we dual deplane and enplane in LGB because of the small nature of the airport.

For the most part all stations should be "free boarding". With the new security measures, the time it takes to board will be drastically reduced due to the reduction in carry-ons. The last flight I flew, 486 LGB-BOS, we had a full flight in and only 15-20% of the overheads where full. We had about 13 or so completely empty overheads. Normally we are running 90-95% full overheads on the LGB-BOS runs.