mile ho

My wife was asked by a flight attendant this morning on a flight from DAL what she would think of families boarding before the A group if they had to sit behind the exit rows. The attendant said that was definitely being considered as a possibility in the short term.

My wife, who flies every week and is A+ told the flight attendant that would be an epic fail from her perspective. The flight attendant was also wondering how they would enforce the rule. If they did allow this and could enforce the rule, I can assure you, the families would be right behind the exit rows.

I personally wouldn't mind it if they had to sit in the back third of the plane. I'm guessing this is being considered as it would likely speed up boarding.

Maybe just a rumor amongst the FAs; or not? Hopefully, this doesn't come to pass.

smmrfld

This has been tested for a while.

LegalTender

Just try it system-wide and see if it works. Enough with preliminaries.

Families can be more civil neighbors. Prefer high-strung kids to soapbox hotheads.

zlanga

Interesting, but how would you handle families as thru passengers? Would you then expect the FAs to prevent them from moving forward when others are able to do so? I don't see that going entirely well...

dmbolp

Speedier Boarding Adventurism

LegalTender

FA's are apt to say something. Families sequestered behind Row 15 make more conspicuous vagrants.

joshua362

#1 - Likely a low occurrence rate, Families try to avoid connecting / continuing flights where possible, most markets have a nonstop xxx-MCO flight, no?

#2 - Once settled and ensconced in row, I doubt any parent would uproot them and their crap to move and change the scenery. It all looks the same outside the window no matter when you sit. Perhaps a stretch of the legs during the break.

Peoriaman1

Imagine flying to MCO and getting the lucky A-16 boarding pass only to be about the 120th person to board the plane because of all the pre-boards and families that boarded before the A group...

joshua362

I've done it many, many times as a BS A01 holder business solo passenger and with kids on points. Just isn't a problem either on a direct flight or using MCO to connect through.

pinniped

Families on Southwest are also relatively likely to check at least one bag. That eliminates the incentive to uproot and move forward at the connection.

If this actually speeds boarding, then I have no issue with it. It seems like it gives them ample time to get settled in a part of the plane with no one else around them even as the A's are beginning to board and fill in from the front.

screeton

When I was traveling with wife and a child, neither of whom were particularly experienced fliers, securing boarding together was a big deal, and this was back in the SWA plastic boarding card era. It was helpful for me to be nearby to reassure them that the bumps and sounds they were hearing were part of the normal landing process, not a wing falling off, etc. If we had been offered the advantage of definitely sitting together in the back 1/3 of plane, we would have considered it first class treatment by SWA. In the intervening years, my family has accumulated almost as many flight miles as I have, but the memory persists of the stress of needing to sit together on those early family vacations.

If family seating before "A" is actually implemented, then fairly strict definitions of family needs to be enforced, basically parents (or 1-2 adults) with kids under a certain age, not an extended family arrangement of 15 people. Also, I like the back 1/3 of plane better than "behind the exit row" because that gets them far enough back that they can spend time in the aisle rearranging all their luggage that they failed to check.

winston vickers

I'm pretty sure WN tried this in the past. They also lumped those asking for pre-board for medical to sit behind the Exit row and a lawsuit ensued. WN has to try something different. After the Christmas fiasco they are trying everything to keep loyal Customers and the A+, A crowd want some type of insurance of decent seats. Is there an ACA law that makes it a law for medical preboards to board first? I'd love to suggest BS, A+, A then CP to board, then pre-board, etc.

pinniped

I don't know if there's a law, but I highly doubt that medical preboards have ever been so prolific that they prevented an A-lister from getting his/her choice of window or aisle seat. Would take a huge number of thrus and probably an Orlando flight to even bring the possibility into question.

Ragnarok

The Air Carrier Access Act : Passengers with Disabilities | US Department of Transportation

eCFR :: 14 CFR Part 382 -- Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Air Travel (FAR Part 382)

14 CFR 382.83(c) If you do not provide advance seat assignments to passengers, you must allow passengers specified in § 382.81 to board the aircraft before other passengers, including other “preboarded” passengers, so that the passengers needing seating accommodations can select seats that best meet their needs.

dukesilver

I'm curious if there is anything wrong with the current family boarding slot (before B boarding)? We have two young kids and have never had an issue finding seats when boarding before B.