Why don’t planes allow passengers to exit from the back?
 

The US Airways Shuttle let passengers disembark from the front (via jetway) and back (via stairs) a few times when I took it. It sped up the process.

Why don’t US domestic flights allow that now?

Are airports just not made for that?

Thanks.

I have done this many times in the US and abroad. The airport just has to be set up for it. Most back stair exits are done via air stairs, so you’d need staff and tarmac access.

More doors/jetbridges/stairs being used for deplaning = more equipment being used taking up more labor hours.

Also, government actors, airports and airlines may want to limit the possibility of passengers unauthorizedly wandering off onto the tarmac or doing other things without being noticed as easily/quickly after deplaning.

It's commonly done at BUR where there are no jetways. On WN flights you can get sometimes get a better seat by boarding via the back and moving quickly to the front while people who boarded via the front block the aisles stowing their carry-ons. You also can get off the plane faster arriving at BUR by picking a seat near the back.

SOP for FR pretty well everywhere they operate.

Allows for much faster turns.

I have exited from the rear of many planes. Typically at smaller airports where everyone departs via stairs and it is hot and humid.

Did that in Italy and Romania last week. But we were picked up by a bus and shuttled the short distance to the terminate. Don't know if that makes the difference or not

In one word: cost.

But it's cheaper for the airline to offload simultaneously from the front and back by steps, than use an airbridge. A) the airport charges less, and B) the turn will be quicker. Otherwise FR wouldn't be doing it.

Probably not in the US. There would be the need for to have someone guide people to the terminal. Not to mention often catering comes to the back to cater coach which they couldn't do if paxs were exiting out of the back, which would slow up turn times. If US airlines could save money doing so they would.

I've boarded / deplaned at the rear quite a few times over the years...but almost always when the plane has no jetbridge and the front is also using stairs.

I can't recall a case where the first X rows used a jetbridge and the remaining Y rows had to walk down a flight of stairs, across the tarmac, and up a flight of stairs to the plane.

It seems to me a net benefit when stairs are already involved and you're just saying "rows 15+, use those stairs instead of these stairs", but not a net benefit when it would create two wholly separate boarding processes.

My recollection of when Long Beach (LGB) rebuilt the terminal ten years ago and didn't install jetbridges - the explanation at the time was that the airlines specifically requested the ability to board and exit from both the front and back for efficiency.

galley service in this case would use the right-side door and the passengers would use the left-side door … this is pretty standard for AS/QX Q400 operations (granted, not a mainline jet, but the point remains)

and as for the title of the thread — it’s not the PLANES, it’s the airlines and airports

I imagine air bridgess also facilitate access for the mobility-challenged. Bit difficult/time-taking if there are wheelchair pax and air bridges and it's a long walk up to a 747 (I've done that more than a few times) . At least air stair boarding was once common. Remember that early 737s (mainly, -100 and -200s) used to have (optional) built-in air stairs front and rear and 727s and DC-9s had stairs in the tail cone.

So in the US, airlines try to avoid it for a few reasons:
1. Liability - less chance of someone falling down the stairs especially during wet and snowy weather = lower liability costs. You still have this on regionals, and in a few airports (BUR, KOA, ...)
2. Manpower - labor is expensive in the US. Airlines are the ones that are doing the ground handling themselves, they need to hire/train their own employees.
3. Many communities around airports limit the capacity of an airport by limiting the number of gates. Using stands / buses would go against that rule.

In Europe, and elsewhere, ground handling is done either by the airport or by a third party. That third party may even be owned by the airline itself. The airport usually charges for using ground services. Jetways are considered to be more 'premium' than non-jetway operations. Part of this has to do with trying to recoup the cost of buying the jetway in the first place, and they're more expensive than buses (or walking to/from the terminal). The airport sets the offer, the airline accepts whichever one it wants (stairs or jetway). Labor costs may also be less expensive though more fixed (it's harder to hire seasonal workers).

You rarely see a combination of both air stairs AND jetway in Europe. I've seen it all the time in Australia - makes perfect sense to do it that way to speed things up.

Ryanair is a different beast altogether. They have their own front stairs packed in their 737s, and they use one set of stairs for the back. This speeds up boarding/alighting and minimizes on the ground time. They try to use their own ground handlers too, to optimize service times.