HNLbasedFlyer

This response can't be a surprise to anyone who reads this thread.

Personally, I'd be surprised if gate agents had no discretion or empowerment whatsoever based on market and the current situation at the gate.

spartacusmcfly

I'm surprised at the level of venom that's being directed at UA on this issue. Does every Denny's Manager nationally handle the queue the same way on Sunday morning?

Do we really expect GAs to handle boarding in Orlando FL (family heavy) the same way they'd handle boarding at a Fortress Hub like SFO (business heavy)?

Half the time we rip UA for not applying common sense on operational matters, then when they try, we rip them for not adhering to a rigid process. Can't have it both ways...

bocastephen

+1 - sounds like a typical canned reply where the original complaint was not even understood.

I can't imagine there are policies where an airport employee can just override said policies at their personal pleasure - what's the point of having policies in the first place?

What if a flight attendant said:

1. I don't feel like serving food or beverages on the flight - I'm tired
2. Wifi is dangerous, so I am turning it off
3. I prefer to hold first class overhead space for crew and non-revs
etc etc

Policies are policies for a reason - I would write back and ask for a clarification.

HNLbasedFlyer

Well - it is FT after all, of course everyone wants to have it both ways.

Of course we want to say we want agents to be empowered during sickness/death situations, give hotels to 1K during weather events, empower FA's to give ETC's inflight, give large ETC's for VDB's when they probably didn't need to start that high, have large flexibility during IRROPS, give BoB to F pax, etc - but not empowered to be in charge of the boarding process based on the situation at hand.....

nomad420

I can't remember where it was but I am sure someone will know, possibly in LAS. The boarding process was posted on the screens at the start of boarding and the GA just went down the list as it was posted. No fuss, no muss, no errors. Why can't they all do this given the comments on this thread. Personally it isn't a big issue for me for reasons already posted I often just board at the last call for boarding.

spartacusmcfly

Because when there are 15 strollers in the boarding area, each taking the space of three adults, it makes sense to get them out of the way ASAP...

nomad420

That's still always an option.

lincolnjkc

I'm not as emotionally invested or as upset about it as some but if there's a boarding policy -- let alone a boarding policy displayed during boarding on the gate displays I think it's reasonable to expect compliance. Being a creature of consistency I certainly would prefer the same process at SFO and MCO (and RIC and FAT and EWR and...); conversely I don't think Denny's has a queue management policy displayed at their entrances [but I also haven't been in a Denny's in at least 5 years and have never actually seen a queue]. WN manages to pull off the same boarding system wide, family or business heavy.

Ummm... based on some of the other posts on FT I'm pretty sure #1 and #3 happen with some regularity (Or at least I take "short duration of this flight" being shorthand for "I'm tired" when other crews on the same route, aircraft type, and weather conditions manage to pull off a full service)... wouldn't be surprised if #2 has happened but not been explicitly announced as such.

diburning

So the GS desk has to speak to a gate supervisor to ask about a published policy? And on top of that, respond to the (high value) customer with the gate supervisor's answer that is contrary to the published policy? Why have a policy then?

If they applied common sense across the board, I'd imagine that there wouldn't be as many complaints.

halls120

This wouldn't be an issue if UA had a reasonable process AND stuck to it, regardless of which airport one was at. If your kids can walk onto the aircraft on their own, you don't need more time to board.

canadiancow

I had an experience recently where we showed up to the gate at the published boarding time, and they were already boarding from lane 2 (I don't know what group they were on).

It luckily didn't matter since we just had backpacks, though I'll note the J bins were completely full when we boarded (and there was a later battlefield upgrade, so we weren't even the last ones on board in J).

But I'm sure if I ever show up 15 minutes early to guarantee my proper boarding position, there will be a 45 minute boarding delay. Just can't win

lincolnjkc

In theory the "We're now boarding your flight to XXX from gate YY" push notifications* would help with this -- except the push notification usually comes when I'm already somewhere between 1/2 way down the jetway and comfortably seated.

Three ways it could be improved, IMO:
- Easiest/least customer friendly: Generate a push notification if boarding will be delayed.
- Similarly easy, more customer friendly: When the agents flip the flight to "boarding soon" status (T-10 from boarding start?) send out a similar notification.
- More difficult, most customer friendly (though with some privacy implications I consider minor but others may not): Use fine geolocation in the app to determine customer's position and approximate walk time/distance. Post boarding delays more proactively. Let automation decide an appropriate time delta to generate notification based on estimated actual boarding time (regardless of if it is early, on time, late) to allow the customer to move from their current position (e.g. club, bar, ...) to the gate and arrive at / slightly before boarding.

(Incidentally, based on texts I've gotten at LAX and IAH recently there may be the beginnings of a move to something similar - just without the realtimey-ness of knowing my exact location -- " Welcome to Houston! You'll arrive at gate C9. Your next flight (number) to (city) departs at gate C15 at 4:22pm. It takes about 5 minutes to get to gate C15.")


*- Sometimes I get them as a text, some times it's a notification from the app, sometimes both; when it first rolled out it was consistently app only, then it became text only, now it seems completely random. Can't figure out why since all of the flights are booked from UA.com with my MP profile.

bocastephen

Maybe it's your app? My push notifications always hit just prior to boarding disabled, or as disabled boarding begins - I am not sure, but it probably keys off something the GA enters in SHARES to enable the boarding pass readers and prepare the flight for boarding.

jsloan

If it's something the GA does, it'd almost certainly be in Aero, not SHARES. That said, mine tend to arrive more or less immediately after the first person boards the aircraft, no matter how many pre-boards there are, so I'm guessing it's tied to that.

tarheelnj

There are all sorts of opportunities with this approach -
1. Figure out who still has their phone in normal mode after a plane has started taxiing, (Text - "Hey you, put your phone in airplane mode")
2. Confirm claimed flat-tire rule was justified.
3. See who's in the bar when boarding starts.