SEA1K4EVR

I just noticed on my BP this morning that UA920 SEA-SFO has a boarding time of 6:25am for a 7:10am flight. 757's have been 30 minutes for years... is this extra long time temporary due to the integration? I sure hope so..it's way too long.

exerda

IIRC, that's the PMCO boarding time for that equipment...

halls120

And given the post-June 2011 boarding process, they usually need the extra 15 minutes.

JOSECONLSCREW28

It's an sCO thing....at one time 757s were boarding 50 minutes before departure.

UA-NYC

IIRC even the 50 seat COEX Barbie jet will publish a 35 minute boarding time (though it's usually closer to 20-25 min out)

nova08

Yes, it's a PMCO thing. My Q2 flts always list a boarding time of 30 or 35 min prior to departure, however it is usually about 15 min prior. Although mainline likely sticks a little closer to the posted board time.

exerda

My experiences on PMCO metal are fairly limited (less than a dozen flights in the past year), but every single one of them did take the full boarding time to complete. Yep, 45 minutes to board a 737.

Generally, PMUA was able to board a 777 or 747 in that time. The Airbus twins or a 757 typically took 20, tops.

The next couple of weeks obviously will not be a good indicator as to what the future will hold. I do wonder, though, if SHARES and having to get used to it will mean that PMUA metal flights worked by PMUA GAs will take 40+ minutes to board simply due to new challenges at the gate.

FWIW, the long boarding times on PMCO metal did not seem to be due to SHARES or anything the GAs had to do, other than the general boarding process itself (which PMUA did much better at the gate, but that's a different topic).

rch4u

Sometimes the PMUA 757s are scheduled for 50 minute turns ... 45 minutes to board doesn't really make sense, unless they want to sit these planes on the ground for over an hour now.

N1120A

More of the New Normal. A combination of going with the inferior GDS and changing UA's very efficient boarding process have caused this.

avidflyer

Yup NW used to have a 45 min board time for 757's when they were partnered with CO.

born sleepy

...and on a 757-300, they sometimes need 45 minutes getting people seated in that cigar tube.

warreng24

I can see that 45 min for a B753 makes sense. That beast is just so LONG.

30 min for a B752 makes the most sense. PMCO should have be able to load a B752 in 30 min or less.

emcampbe

On the other hand, I was on a JAL 747 a few years ago, and wondering about our departure time when they only started boarding about 20-25 minutes prior to departure. and yes, we left on time. Granted, don't remember the flight being packed, but definitely not light, either.

Maybe a result of the customer base, maybe the boarding procedure, etc. But always wondered how that flight boarded so quickly, yet US airlines can't seem to board a narrow-body in less time than that.

star_world

This comment doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

For the record, I didn't see any difference in boarding times on PMUA vs. PMCO flights. Both generally started boarding approx. 30min before departure and would be finished before the departure time. Some people here are very effective at convincing themselves that there's an issue.

halls120

It isn't SHARES, it's the boarding procedure. Period. PMUA had no problem boarding a 757 in 30 mins for many years, and ever since June 2011, it's been a rugby scrum on full flights at hubs because management opted to change what was working just fine.