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Can UA use some ideas from ANA for faster boarding

Can UA use some ideas from ANA for faster boarding

Old Dec 17, 2018, 8:55 pm
  #1  
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Can UA use some ideas from ANA for faster boarding

https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/trave...a-is-brilliant

After 4 UA flights witin 26 hours, and ANA (6 domestic) and AIr NZ (4 domestic) flights last month I wonder why UA boarding takes soooo long. ANA boards a 777-300 20 minutes before the departure time, with Air New Zealand not as fast but still faster than UA for a A320.
Taipei is offline  
Old Dec 17, 2018, 9:09 pm
  #2  
 
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Not just UA. Any other US airline is the same. It (pleasantly) amazes me how much faster Asian carriers board and deplane.
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Old Dec 17, 2018, 9:13 pm
  #3  
 
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Originally Posted by Taipei
ANA boards a 777-300 20 minutes before the departure time, with Air New Zealand not as fast but still faster than UA for a A320.
An ANA 777-300 has roughly twice as many people as a United A320 - but also roughly twice as many aisles. What's more, it's significantly longer, so those people are spread out more. eg, both planes have around 24 rows of economy seats, but each 'row' in the 777 has 4-5 people accessing it from the aisle, whilst in an A320 it's 6.

ANA (including domestic flights) has a free checked bag for all passengers, and has a 10kg maximum weight for carry-on bags. UA doesn't give a free checked bag, and doesn't have a weight limit for carry-on bags. This generally results in people taking more on-board, which slows boarding.

ANA's frequently flyer program has 3 levels. United has 5. Plus credit card holders. Plus people that paid to board early.

It's hard to compare the two...

The best thing UA could do to speed up boarding would be to offer free checked bags, which would encourage people to carry less on board. They obviously do this today with free bags at the gate, but from a passengers perspective by the time you're already there you might as well just take it on with you!

Boarding from the back, windows first, with minimal baggage, might win from a logistics perspective - but it doesn't from a commercial perspective!
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