Airlines should let window seats board first, middle seats second, and aisle seats last.

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Ok-Nectarine7152@reddit

It's too complicated to ever use but it's proven to be 50% faster than any other method.

Steffen Method: A highly efficient, complex method developed by astrophysicist Jason Steffen. It involves boarding passengers one by one, alternating sides and rows (even/odd) starting from the back, window to aisle.

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pjkitty@reddit

Middle seats always get both armrests. Always.

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Rupperrt@reddit

I’d rather walk than sitting in the middle

[-]

pjkitty@reddit

I only voluntarily sit in the middle if I'm traveling with my kid.

[-]

Rupperrt@reddit

I need aisle, too claustrophobic. I can accept window if it’s two seats and the other person is either my wife or another good smelling slim adult human.

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silasmoeckel@reddit

It's been tried. It's called the WilMA method and southwest is supposed to be trying it again this year.

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Mundane-Caregiver169@reddit

I think back to front makes more sense than anything else.

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LaserBeamsCattleProd@reddit

I think it's because people put their bags in the first overhead bin available, so people going to the back would start filling those suckers up 5-10 rows away from their seat.

Airlines don't feel like having flight attendants policing that.

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TonyMontanasSon@reddit

Blows my mind how people don’t just use the bin above their seat. How is this an issue?

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bsknuckles@reddit

People bring bags that are too big or are jerks and don’t make an effort to fit them neatly.

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No_Veterinarian1010@reddit

I mean yea that's a factor, but you have a crab bucket mentality. The fact is the plane is designed to have less bin space than needed to allow everyone to bring a carry on even if all carry ons meet the airline size requirement.

This is the airline selling you something they can't actually deliver.

[-]

flightist@reddit

If they were selling it to you, they’d have to provide it. They aren’t, so they’re not.

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No_Veterinarian1010@reddit

You literally pay separate for carry-on in cabin on a bunch of airlines

[-]

flightist@reddit

And you’ll literally never have an issue finding space in the overhead on those airlines.

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No_Veterinarian1010@reddit

I feel like you don't fly much

[-]

flightist@reddit

Do it for a living. Used to work for one of the pay-for-the-overhead airlines.

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No_Veterinarian1010@reddit

Sure buddy

[-]

flightist@reddit

You’re the type that complains if there’s crew bags in “your” bin, I’m assuming

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kaini@reddit

People get absolutely batshit about bags in the overhead locker. I once saw a woman calmly remove my bag from the locker, put hers in, and then replace my bag, rotated 90 degrees so that there wasn't a chance the locker would ever close.

Red mist.

[-]

jesusrambo@reddit

You’re the one who got absolutely batshit here, right?

Sounds like she just made a dumb spatial reasoning mistake. Very weird reaction

[-]

kaini@reddit

Are you new on planet earth?

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REDDIT_JUDGE_REFEREE@reddit

Now that’s an unethical life pro tip lmao

[-]

Biscotti_BT@reddit

Honey, you booked a seat at the back right?? That's the only way we can store our 6 carry-on pieces.

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notwhoiwas44@reddit

People putting their bags in the wrong way isn't being jerks. It's being idiots. There's even very clear pictures right there in the bin and people still can't seem to get it

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djpeteski@reddit

On Delta they frequently run out of space. This has gotten worse as they charge for bags.

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beastpilot@reddit

There is less overhead space on an airplane than there are seats. Generally, the last people on the plane will not have space for their onboard luggage.

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TheJessicator@reddit

Right, because they keep trying to fit more people into an already small space. If they just stuck to what the design accommodates, the problem would not exist.

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PriorSecurity9784@reddit

If you want people to carry on more bags, charge for checked bags.

If you don’t want people to carry on as much, make checked bags free

If you want to make as much money as you can, and you’re willing to inconvenience some people to do it, you charge for checked bags and then make boarding groups 7 and 8 gate check their bags at the last minute

[-]

anomalous_cowherd@reddit

It's at times like this I'm glad I travel very light, usually with just a small backpack that would even fit under the seat if needed.

[-]

southpark@reddit

they don't want to carry it from the rear of the plane back to the front.. thus screwing it up for everyone.

[-]

Paul_The_Builder@reddit

There is not enough overhead bin space for every passenger. If all or most passengers carry on a bag that they intend to put in the overhead bin. eventually they fill up and remaining bags need to be checked.

Depending on the plane and configuration, there is typically only enough overhead bins for \~%70 of the passengers.

[-]

nisugi33@reddit

You see they think if they put their bag closer to the front, it gives them the right to jump up and run up to their bag so they can deplane faster. Real piece of shit move.

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Boatbuilder_62@reddit

Entitled people putting both their carry on and their “personal item” in the overhead bins.

[-]

Chordata1@reddit

Bulkhead is the only one who this should be allowed

[-]

Chordata1@reddit

As someone who likes to sit bulkhead it drives me insane.

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Princess_Moon_Butt@reddit

Because profits. The answer is always "because profits". They crammed the seats together so much that there's not actually enough room in the overhead bins for a small roller per person anymore. Even if everyone acted correctly and took the nearest available spot, you'd end up with people having to stash their bag halfway across the plane.

People know this, and nobody wants to be forced to spend extra time waiting around at the baggage claim after a long flight (or risk their bag being lost/damaged), so they take space when they see it.

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GoodCallMeatball@reddit

Because airlines all started charging to check in bags which led to an influx of carry-on baggage, and now leaves every passenger in fear that there is not enough space for everyone's bag.

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sharpshooter999@reddit

I'm surprised the overhead bins aren't numbered to match the seats. Like, bin A-1-2-3, bin B-1-2-3 etc

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TonyMontanasSon@reddit

This makes the most sense but people are assholes and will bring multiple items to put in the overhead bin and ruin it for everyone.

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sharpshooter999@reddit

That's when the flight attendant needs to get involved. Sir, what is the seat number on your boarding pass? Your bin is above your seat. This is not your seat, please remove the items. Sir, if you continue to refuse, you will be removed from this flight

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GandalfTheBored@reddit

Always put it in the first available. Because what if there’s no room over your seat? Your bag can be I. Front of you no problem. But if it’s behind you, getting off the plane becomes a problem.

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No_Veterinarian1010@reddit

Because there's not enough space for everyone to bring a bag. And you have FAs on some flights instructing people to grab bin space wherever they find it.

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rnoyfb@reddit

Some overhead bins are blocked because of flight crew bags and safety equipment, especially at the front of the plane over the bulkhead seats who don’t have a seat in front of them to put their personal items under. The overhead bins above seats are not large enough for everyone to have the maximum allowed carry-on size so people that board later but before all the bin space is taken end up taking the first space they find on the way to their seats. Then the FAs, who for most airlines aren’t even getting paid yet, are eager to take off so they help people in like group 4 or so find room up and down the plane and if they’ve got one of those one of those “I board as close to when they close the door as I can” assholes in first class, the FAs will try really hard to make space for them because they usually spend a lot of money on that airline

I usually book bulkhead seats in first class on domestic flights and either premium economy or business on international flights. I don’t have a seat in front of me and on narrow bodies, the overhead bin above my seat is usually smaller than the rest of them and likely full before any passengers board. My bags are usually above row 2 but they may be farther back if the plane has a lot of pre-boarding status members. This means the people in row 2 have to put their bags a little farther back

Then there is the issue of medical equipment (particularly CPAP machines) that legally are exempt from carry-on limits but they can still only have one personal item underneath the seat in front of them so a backpack or purse or something is going up above. I’ve seen flights where a third of the passengers had one

[-]

Mr_Style@reddit

That’s the true unethical pro tip, bring your extra stuff in a CPAP bag for economy tickets that charge $50 for carry on bags !

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rnoyfb@reddit

If you have anything non-medical in it, they can make you check it so I don’t suggest that if you’re flying on an airline that’s willing to not have the best reputation. I fly with a CPAP and the only non-CPAP-related thing I’ll put in that bag is prescription medications. My CPAP bag also has a huge-ass lithium battery in it that’s right at the max allowed but its power out port only works for my CPAP.

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mugshotz55@reddit

Because there is typically not enough room in the bins for every one to have space for a bag assuming a full flight.

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anomalous_cowherd@reddit

More precisely they have crammed in more rows of seats than the overhead lockers were designed to support...

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resilient_bird@reddit

Because there isn’t always room.

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Background_Sink6986@reddit

The same bin that can fit like 4 or so bags covers 2-3 rows of people. If even half the people have overhead bags that’s already full. It’s why theyre so insistent on checking everyone’s carryons at the gate when the flight is full, there’s just no way to fit a carryon from everyone even if they are the allowed size (a lot of people have oddly shaped carry ons and oversized ones, not even including those)

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carbslut@reddit

Because you don’t want to get to the back and not have space available.

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badhabitfml@reddit

South west makes that the most visible. I'd end up with a c boarding. Only seat is a middle on row 15,but the only overhead space is row 35.

Getting out, you basically have to wait for the entire plane to empty. Never had that happen on another airline.

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PresentationFew2761@reddit

This is the issue. As a result of this, airlines will prioritize boarding front to back, because the people at the front will never put their luggage in the back, but the people at the back will put their luggage at the front so they can “just grab it” when exiting.

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wSkkHRZQy24K17buSceB@reddit

Maybe we could come up with some kind of mechanism to coordinate the allocation of this scarce resource.

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txmail@reddit

I did not think the flight attendants started getting paid until the door is shut. Pretty sure they DNGAF until that door shuts.

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Odd-Respond-4267@reddit

They should get paid from when they enter the plane.

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2nd-Reddit-Account@reddit

They should get paid from when they step into the crew room at the airport, same as a staff room at any other job

Anything you do after that point is work related and you wouldn’t be there otherwise, so it should be on work time.

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txmail@reddit

That does not appear to be the universal case. Has something to do with their hours and legal limits.

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guthran@reddit

Have the bins locked by default and automatically unlock further forward as each boarding group is called. Ta da.

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ParisGreenGretsch@reddit

That's the issue. Solve that and the rest works just fine.

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notwhoiwas44@reddit

Well that's entire of the airlines choice. If they didn't charge for checked bags, they wouldn't have the shortage of overhead bin space issue.

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hookem98@reddit

Start charging $50 more than their checked bag fee for carry on bags including purses. More revenue for the airlines.

Tell the passengers it's a temporary fee to help offset losses to fuel for the Iran war.

Then keep them forever, like the baggage fees that were used to offset losses from 911.

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Mundane-Caregiver169@reddit

Really? How do you know that?

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Meerkat_Mayhem_@reddit

People are people

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Mundane-Caregiver169@reddit

I’m aware it happens but it usually starts because one person has used two slots and thus begins a chain reaction, not because people prefer to put their luggage somewhere far away from where they’re sitting. In other words, nothing would change in this regard.

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pennylanebarbershop@reddit

yes, and when they started to implement privileged early boarding, it became front to back.

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southpark@reddit

all of these only work under the assumption that everyone in each "seat class" is at the gate at the right time because they're following the rules.. which is never the case.. so you end up with people out of order screwing up the efficiency no matter what. human nature is chaos..

because if people actually followed all of the boarding rules then boarding would be efficient anyways.. instead you have people stowing their luggage at the front of the airplane and then going to sit in the rear.. and then you end up with someone sitting in the front having to walk all the way to the back to stow their carryon.. and then walk back to the front forcing their way through other people trying to board.. you have people trying to use the restroom, you have people sitting in the wrong rows, you have people who try to put their bag on a seat to save it for someone boarding later etc. etc. etc.

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Electronic_Film_9904@reddit

Back window, mid window, front window. Then repeat for center and aisle. But we should be able to do this without being instructed to. It's not rocket science.

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Sasquatch-d@reddit

It’s been proven back to front is the 2nd slowest boarding method, only losing to front to back.

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Formal_Appearance_16@reddit

This made me actually laugh once I processed it. Thank you

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Sasquatch-d@reddit

I wasn’t joking. Going in row order is the slowest possible boarding methods. It bottlenecks extremely fast. Back to front is horribly inefficient.

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ns1852s@reddit

Even better would be boarding from both the front and rear. Discovered that one in Australia. Even deplaning is done at both ends. Stupidly fast.

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Mundane-Caregiver169@reddit

Don’t planes fly backwards down there?

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brainmuseum@reddit

Often back to front doesn’t work due to chances of a tail tip in the aircraft depending on size. This is specifically an issue with the 737 series!

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ObligationFalse9567@reddit

I just loaded back to front with air NZ. I was row 2 and was last to board. Didn’t seem to be that much diff but I didn’t time it or anything

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itisjustin@reddit

EU generally does boarding from both ends at the same time

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Mundane-Caregiver169@reddit

Yeah they’re not as prudish over there.

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Xaphios@reddit

There's a YouTube video about this very topic.

Basically a totally random "let anyone board whenever" approach is probably better than any structured method an airline is likely to actually implement!

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Princess_Moon_Butt@reddit

Yeah, but then you can't convince people to pay $150 a year for an airline card that gives them status and lets them board 4 minutes earlier than other people!

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Religion_Of_Speed@reddit

No you can still do that and allow for the rest of the people to board randomly. You can do whatever you want when you don't really care all that much about shaving a few seconds off of boarding when other preparations are still being made to the aircraft. Think of it as a frame rule in speed running, as long as everything happens before a certain point then there is no net gain/loss.

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ruuutherford@reddit

came here to say this. CGP Grey is awesome!

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Mundane-Caregiver169@reddit

That tracks with my worldview.

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zzay@reddit

You can't do that because the nose will tilt up

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Mundane-Caregiver169@reddit

First class passengers would surely tilt their nose up.

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40-percent-of-cops@reddit

Crazily enough, most airplanes would tip over.

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Illbsure@reddit

This is the correct answer

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Significant-Text1550@reddit

This method has been shown to be quicker but they can’t premium charge for it.

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Mundane-Caregiver169@reddit

I feel like they could still charge more if they figured out how to communicate to people that getting on last means you don’t have to be on an effing plane as long!

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i_forgot_my_sn_again@reddit

It's simple... charge first class more. Tell them the poors will get in first that way they don't have to walk and stand by you as they load. After they get loaded then the curtain closes and they can't even see first class seats anymore. Then after landing they have to wait until after you're fully off the plane.

Go for class segregation...poors to the back

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Mundane-Caregiver169@reddit

I wonder why first class passengers don’t spit on us second class people as we walk by?

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44problems@reddit

Doesn't matter. Overhead space is a premium now so boarding first is what they charge for.

But then make the seats in the back the premium ones! No, people care more about getting off first, mainly for connections but also because you just want to get off a plane once you landed.

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Fireproofspider@reddit

I'd rather be on the plane than at the gate honestly. If I fall asleep on the plane, I get to where I'm going and someone wakes me up when I get there. If I fall asleep at the gate, I miss my flight. I can't even chill with headphones at the gate since I need to hear them call my group.

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long-time__lurker@reddit

It was determined in real life situations it just didn’t work (at least in western countries). I believe the boarding groups are spread out across rows which is slightly faster in practice

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beeej517@reddit

It doesn't

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Mundane-Caregiver169@reddit

Ok

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Mysterious-Tie7039@reddit

They’ve done studies on this before. It doesn’t actually make it faster doing this because it quickly stacks up anyway.

An alternating pattern is the quickest but requires a lot of coordination that wouldn’t really be feasible. Random hodgepodge is actually one of the faster methods.

Found the video

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gerardkimblefarthing@reddit

Unless you're wiping.

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toodleoo77@reddit

You never load back to front

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Mundane-Caregiver169@reddit

Or wipe.

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pizza_the_mutt@reddit

All methods have drawbacks. With windows in you get idiots standing 1/3 of the way down the aisle taking 2 minutes to put their bag in the overhead while 100 people wait to get to their seats further back in the plane.

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Paxsimius@reddit

Southwest started it back in January. There's been grumbling, but so far it seems to work okay. The solo aisle folks don't like it because they lose out on bin space.

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BearShark8@reddit

Is that on all flights? I'm taking a southwest flight in June, wondering if I should switch from aisle to window

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Paxsimius@reddit

Yep, all flights. And in reality, it's more complicated than that. Boarding groups are also based on what tier of service you bought as well. If you booked Choice Extra or Choice Preferred, you'll be boarding earlier and will have no issue getting bin space. If you have Choice, then I think you'll still board before Basic and there's a good chance you'll be okay. Since you already have a seat assignment, you aren't in Basic, which is when you can't count on having bin space.

In March I flew with Choice seats. On the outbound flight I had to stash my carryon about three or four rows behind my seat. Luckily the other passengers were very accommodating about me fetching my bag when we landed. On the way home there wasn't any issue.

Also, I have to point out the grumbling is on r/SouthwestAirlines , and grumbling is a popular pastime on any airline subreddit.

Finally, Southwest is always good to offer you upgrades and you'll have the opportunity to purchase your way into a priority boarding group if you really really want.

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BearShark8@reddit

Got it, thanks for all the info.

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Master-Quit-5469@reddit

How does this work for families with kids? Do they get an exception? How do you manage that? What if they are 5 minutes late to the gate? Do they jump in front of the queue? Etc.

Lots of different methods have been tried, and amazingly shown that the “just let everyone get on in whatever order” seems to be the fastest. No cognitive load / thinking / artificial organisation needed, just people seeing what’s in front of them and self organising.

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silasmoeckel@reddit

It's not hard to have family's go as a unit. This and many other exceptions reduce it's effectiveness.

The stats do not agree with your statement United airlines tags it as 2 minutes faster. Now whether that's enough to bother or if people will figure out how to mess is up is another matter.

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Megalocerus@reddit

My husband has always helped me stash my carryon in the overhead. It would seem to cause issues with children as well.

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HawksRule20@reddit

Wilma passengers board faster ayooo

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Corona21@reddit

Not much over random, just have both rear and front doors available, put on the pass which door is nearer and people will sort themselves out. Close enough to perfect. accounts for groups sitting together etc.

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jks513@reddit

There have been studies. The fastest way to board is for the gate agent to say everyone get on the plane and don’t worry about the order. Cannot monetize randomness though.

I was on an 18 hour delayed flight once and the agent did this and I swear to god that 777 fully loaded in about 20 minutes start to finish.

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giuseppe443@reddit

ITA airlines is already doing it like this

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jks513@reddit

It doesn’t help as much as you think and they can run out of bin space for aisle seats.

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YonKro22@reddit

That's not a crazy idea that's just a logical way to do that why in that world but they not be doing that.

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Rupperrt@reddit

Because it’s not so much more efficient while a whole lot more complicated as you need to exempt families, priority boarding/frequent flyers to maybe in the best case safe a minute or two. And boarding turnaround is in most busy airports not really the bottleneck anyway. Boarding randomly is faring surprisingly well, booking back to front as well. Even better, have to gangways to rear and front of the plane..

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PawsAndPeony@reddit

aisle seats boarding last makes sense too... you literaally got the "free movement tax"

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Rupperrt@reddit

I’d still book aisle but pay for priority boarding. Need the overhead space lol.

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ijuinkun@reddit

I would rather have to climb over others than to have others climbing over me, especially when I am trying to sleep. Thus, I prefer sitting in window seats rather than aisle seats.

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MrDBS@reddit

The seats at every gate should be configured like the planes that land at the gate. Everyone sits in their assigned seat at the gate. People who are unhappy can try to swap seats before boarding. Then the gate crew calls seats to board.

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Rupperrt@reddit

But I don’t usually sit at the gate, I walk around, have a coffee somewhere etc.

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aerostotle@reddit

the interior of the cabin of the plane should be portable so that you put your things in the overhead bin and get in your seat before the plane arrives at the gate, then a crane installs the cabin into the plane so that the plane can leave the gate within 2 minutes of arrival.

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lammy82@reddit

Let’s have a moving platform alongside the runway so the plane can just touch and go.

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aerostotle@reddit

The Jim Carrey method

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beastpilot@reddit

So now boarding areas have to be custom to one type of aircraft with one seating configuration?

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Perfect_Big_5907@reddit

so cool !

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thatbrazilianguy@reddit

Then families would be separated during boarding, not going to work.

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Krypt0night@reddit

Literally took a flight on a Japanese airline that did this last year and it wasn't a big deal at all.

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Joe_Kangg@reddit

The Japanese care about other people.

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Rupperrt@reddit

They don’t but they have strict culture of politeness and discipline.

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AlternativeHat8964@reddit

Only when those people look and think same way as them.

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mamaknits@reddit

Do you have small children? Because I find it hard to believe even in Japan that a stranger would just walk my toddler to his seat and install his carseat.

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FalconX88@reddit

No they won't. They will still put them in the same boarding group if they are on the same ticket.

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andoCalrissiano@reddit

if they want to to be together then they can wait until the end

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Phrich@reddit

Cool now all the children are standing in line even longer. Their tantrums make every passengers flight worse.

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The_Matias@reddit

Let families with young kids in first. They already do so.

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Mundane-Caregiver169@reddit

I have children and the time spent in the terminal doesn’t seem to affect their mood negatively. They have space to move around there.

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No_Veterinarian1010@reddit

But it does take way longer to get seated. It's why they board small kids and wheel chairs first.

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Mundane-Caregiver169@reddit

Fair enough.

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andoCalrissiano@reddit

the terminal is way more comfortable than the economy seats

and there's no need to stand in line at all, just relax at the gate

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wsxdfcvgbnjmlkjafals@reddit

Now things start to get complicated... seems simple to you, but it's chaotic when you have 300 passengers with different concerns

[-]

Mundane-Caregiver169@reddit

The airlines should make the 300 people come to an unanimous agreement on how they will board, before they are allowed to.

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wsxdfcvgbnjmlkjafals@reddit

Absolute sure-fire plan that will work efficiently! Approved.

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aguafiestas@reddit

That would defeat the purpose.

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aguafiestas@reddit

You can have it so groups that book together board in the same group.

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Doublestack00@reddit

Then as someone who flys every week and wants an isle gets F'ed when it comes to overhead storage

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watcher953@reddit

Nah. That makes too much sense.

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garublador@reddit

Everyone: crowds the boarding area to try to get on the plane sooner.

Also everyone: How come we have to get on the plane so early?

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djpeteski@reddit

This would cause a riot. They should let the back board first too, but they don't.

Who boards first? First class then premium economy. The are towards the front precluding the back from squeezing past them.

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MiteeThoR@reddit

That will never work. Families will board together. You really going to tell a kid with the window seat to get on first with their parents boarding 1 at a time in 15 minute intervals?

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FalconX88@reddit

they all get the same boarding group and get on at the same time.

The reason you would do window > middle > aisle is so that aisle people don't have to get up to let people in, which slows everything down. If the family has all 3 seats that problem doesn't occur.

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Boatbuilder_62@reddit

The algorithm could/should keep groups on the same booking together.

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MiteeThoR@reddit

This isn't a new idea, it's been tested:
https://mythresults.com/airplane-boarding

Regardless of the boarding method, the highest paying customers want to feel special, and if they don't feel special they won't ride your airline.

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Stuck_in_my_TV@reddit

You will get 15 parents every flight pissed that you’re separating them from their children for even a minute.

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FalconX88@reddit

Modern computers can figure out that two people are on the same ticket and are sitting next to each other. They can then be put in the same boarding group.

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Appropriate_Tie534@reddit

Are you saying that like it's unreasonable? I hope this is just a "tone is hard on the internet" thing, because yeah, parents and children should not be separated. Especially with young children.

This issue could be solved by having minors board with the adult they're flying with, or letting all groups board together.

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Stuck_in_my_TV@reddit

Then that defeats the entire purpose of OP’s plan because it’s rare for people to fly alone.

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canyouhearme@reddit

Easy - ban children. Everyone sighs in relief and you can charge more for a child free flight.

https://www.executivetraveller.com/malaysia-airlines-defends-baby-ban-and-children-free-zone-on-airbus-a380

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FalconX88@reddit

They do. For example Lufthansa group has their boarding groups according to that system.

[-]

boobooaboo@reddit

That assumes everyone gets to the gate when they are supposed to. I don’t get to the gate until about ten minutes prior to door closure, because why spend more time in an airport.

[-]

JackYoMeme@reddit

It's easier and saves time but they can sell like $2000 in priority boarding

[-]

PrometheanEngineer@reddit

Yeah let me 5 year old split up with me during boarding.

Sounds like a great plan and definitely thought through.

Honestly, boarding a plane is fine. Is it perfect? No. But that's the neat part, it doesn't need to be perfection.

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Electronic_Film_9904@reddit

Not smart enough to figure it out on your own. I get a kick out of watching people line up to board, then watching them board. Usually I get to my row ( window seat ) and look at the person and say why didn't you wait ? And yeah, I always jump up quick but it seems like the ones in the other 2 seats are always quicker.

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BlueWonderfulIKnow@reddit

What’s the point of my aisle seat in first class if I can’t board first and look at people heading to steerage?

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No_Veterinarian1010@reddit

First class would not be subject to this foolishness

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BlueWonderfulIKnow@reddit

Agreed. Someone rightly corrected me that first and business class don’t necessarily board first. They board at their leisure, anytime they want. Given that, I always found it unusual that first/business folks clamor to get on the plane, and they’re sitting there in that metal tube longer than they have to, while 150 people brush by them. True first class people (like folks with security details), board absolutely last, and are the first off.

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flip314@reddit

Board at leisure sounds good in theory, bad in practice unless there's separate first class access (which is not always guaranteed at every airport even for the larger planes)

If you board first you get to sit in your seat, if you board later you're probably standing on the jet bridge behind everyone else trying to board. If it's not a larger plane, you're also potentially losing your overhead bin access.

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Rapid_Fowl@reddit

Actively wait until very last moment to board the plane. Might cause annoyance if someone has to move but the way people are in a hurry to stand in line never gets less hilarious.

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IakwBoi@reddit

I’m usually a fan of spending less time on a plane, but the crucial piece of info is that sometimes you get free drinks upon boarding.

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TheKingOfSwing777@reddit

People joke about watching the poor people walk to the back, but I'm convinced old school status reasons are the main reason. Airlines pretty much only make profit off of first class so they are trying to make it look as haughty as possible.

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BlueWonderfulIKnow@reddit

Curious what the flight attendants would do with First Class passenger on an $8000 ticket who boards later and has no room overhead for their one reasonable carry-on. My instinct tells me that $8000 has bought some unofficial accommodation.

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ChairYeoman@reddit

Sometimes I'm able to store stuff in the FA's closets, especially if I explain what it is. An FA isn't going to force-check a painting, for example.

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BlueWonderfulIKnow@reddit

I’m going to start carrying a painting-shaped carryon. It will help me look the part. Related, a work colleague traveling with me to some SE Asian backwater bought a nice leather satchel while there. He decided to fly home with it as carryon, and packed his normal North Face oversized backpack inside his checked bag. So he and I are standing there in line waiting to board the flight home—both of us with khakis, me with a big honking Jansport, him with hyper-minimalist belongings, only his iPhone, wallet and headphones inside his little manpurse. He looked like landed gentry next to the jostling locals each carrying 500 lbs of who knows what shit wrapped in dirty Saran Wrap. Bear in mind I had a full fare Y class ticket, my colleague some basic economy O class. “Sir, right this way,” they said to my colleague. Pulled him out of the line of wretched refuse and upgraded him to business. Life lesson: I need to carry less, or a Rembrandt.

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Princess_Moon_Butt@reddit

The ones who don't fly often usually still get on as early as possible; it's hard to break that mindset of "early = better".

The ones who do fly often won't even leave the airport lounge until boarding starts.

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NewPac@reddit

I don't normally fly first class, but I always board at my leisure. I normally find a bar or coffee shop near the gate so I can keep an eye on it and don't head to the gate until the line is gone. Walk on, sit down, wheels up.

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Opening_Total7711@reddit

Lol it's funny reading "steerage" in 2026. "Margaret, pay no mind to the steerage peopel."

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Joe_Kangg@reddit

With your warm hand towel and condescending glare

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Rich_Ad_4630@reddit

I swear to god people buy first class just to dead eye, slack jaw stare at everyone boarding after

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itsbagelnotbagel@reddit

Yeah I want everyone in first class to board first so the rest of us can crop dust them on the way in

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Great_Stranger3954@reddit

Trying to get a group of people to line up and follow directions. Is like trying to herd cats. It can’t be done

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Difficult-Ad2084@reddit

YES!!

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DeepNQuota@reddit

The bottleneck for takeoff is almost never boarding. Current boarding methods are fairly easy for even the stupidest of people to understand and they don't split up families with small children trying to be seated together.

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GreenViking15@reddit

First class should be at the back

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Ifyouhavethemeans@reddit

First class boards first so they can be seated in time to scowl at everyone else boarding.

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myspike20@reddit

Most airlines do it this way, just not US based carriers. Every Asian carrier I've flown on boards this way

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jamesjansen@reddit

Pretty sure united does this for the most part . Group 3 is window…5 aisle

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jukeboxjulia@reddit

Airlines should make seats that are easy to move in and out of regardless of where you are seated.

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OtterHostler@reddit

You'd think that would make sense, right? But in every experiment they've run it turns out that the fastest way to board people is "doors are open, come on in". Don't ask me why it's this way, but it is.

The problem with that is that airlines can't charge you for faster boarding, and people who have a bunch of points on their frequent flying plan get ticked off that they can't board before everyone else.

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sawtooth1649@reddit

Board the back of the plane first, and reverse it for deboarding.

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Zakaree@reddit

This was actually proven to be the slowest method.. it sounds logical but it was the slowest. Mythbusters

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sawtooth1649@reddit

That’s really hard for me to get my head around. Do you remember why that would be?

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Zakaree@reddit

Aisle interference. Basically one long single file line so you are waiting for people to move where as the way it is now. You have people in different parts of the line taking their seats thus moving the line along faster

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feel-the-avocado@reddit

It shouldnt be hard to get everyone to line up like kids at school, and stand over their seat marking on the floor. Then the steward, like a teacher, gets everyone to walk out in order.

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Level3pipe@reddit

The other problem I have with boarding window to row is that it would separe me from any children I may be responsible for. I'd rather just do back to front and not have to worry if my little cousin made it to his seat before I did.

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feel-the-avocado@reddit

How do you handle sending them to school or kindergarten?

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Level3pipe@reddit

I don't have kids

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Gsusruls@reddit

Will be even easier, seeing as how this will inherently separate groups and families, and parents from children. Brilliant!

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Boatbuilder_62@reddit

They used to do this a Norman Manley Airport in Kingston Jamaica. I haven’t been there in a while. They may still do it. (The way the departure lounge and boarding area was designed made this a practical approach)

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wsxdfcvgbnjmlkjafals@reddit

They can barely even get people to line up for their zone, so I'm pessimistic as iti s

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Meerkat_Mayhem_@reddit

The zone by zone loadings feel just as absurd as all this other stuff

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Illustrious_Yard3163@reddit

AI slop

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wsxdfcvgbnjmlkjafals@reddit

I dont see why not. The area by the gate isn't huge, you dont want every passenger fighting to board. When extra people get up the staff have to go around and do crowd control. This is supposed to negate that.

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Perfect_Big_5907@reddit

That would be so awesome ! Have a layout on the floor at the gate and everyone stands in their number. Ok kids i'm the line leader follow me. BAck to front is the practical way but airlines make money by boarding order. Said it before, airlines are not in the business of making it convenient to you they are here to make money.

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der_titan@reddit

airlines are not in the business of making it convenient to you they are here to make money.

I'm curious as to which industries exists whose modus operandi isn't to make money.

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Perfect_Big_5907@reddit

All business is to make money. However many companies want to keep you as a customer and loyalty is key. Airlines have you in a strangle hold. They know almost all flights are full and there are plenty of takers if you don't use them. They do not have to worry about loyalty as most traveling public have no other option . Passengers can bitch all they want but airlines will do as they please.

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beastpilot@reddit

If this were true, Airlines would not have loyalty programs. Airlines are one of the most competitive businesses out there that always work hard to differentiate themselves from one another.

The actual issue is that nobody wants to pay more than the bare minimum for travel, so what wins is low fares, not high service.

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der_titan@reddit

There are airlines that cater to the affluent and compete on convenience, like Singapore Air, Qatar Airways, Air France, Cathay Air and others.

Airlines are probably more pre-occupied with loyalty than other industries. Coca Cola isn't pairing with Visa so cardholders can accumulate points for free soda, but United Airlines certainly is. Plenty of hotels and airlines also provide double benefits specifically to cement brand loyalty.

The bottom line is that airlines are not a very profitable business, and most survive by cutting costs. Richard Branson famously said, "If you want to be a millionaire, start with a billion dollars and launch a new airline."

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Perfect_Big_5907@reddit

Once again you are correct in saying the airlines compete for the money and loyalty of high end passengers. That truly is where they make their money . We are speaking of the other 80% of passengers. As in Joe and Sally with their kids in economy. How they get seated is not important.

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QuestGalaxy@reddit

Something like this kind of happened to me and my friends once (flying out of Berlin). Our flight was extremely delayed and the airport was very close to closing for the night. The plane was inbound but would only have minutes to spare, if we were to make it out of there. So the airport staff had us line up by our rows before the plane landed and they were lined up outside to guide us to the plane. And they kind of had us running to the plane as well. Onboad the flight crew were speedrunning all the checks. We made it would with 2 or so minutes to spare.

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Exotic_Bill44@reddit

You assume everyone is at the gate as boarding starts. You will also have groups, particularly families with children, wh want to board together and not have a 50 person gap between the person with the window seat and the person with the middle seat. Your single file line is also going to span 3 gates and the markings need to be customized to the type of aircraft.

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Jayn_Newell@reddit

It’s especially fun when one or more of the group is children, and potentially too young to handle boarding unattended. This is going to be a major headache for families, or any group where a member requires aid and attention, which will likely quickly become a problem for everyone else.

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pseudonominom@reddit

Planes are all configured differently. But good idea!

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fluffynuckels@reddit

You'd have to make airport terminals bigger

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tudale@reddit

That's what Lufthansa does.

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Electioncanthrowaway@reddit

How about this? The whole interior of the plane is on wheels. Everyone boards before the plane arrives. The plane is a large empty cargo plane. The whole interior with seats and baggage bins gets rolled into the plane like a roller coaster and the back of the plane loading door closes. At the destination the whole interior rolls out and another load of passengers already on their roller coaster interior module is moved into the cargo plane.

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PhoenixFox@reddit

It's been tried for cargo

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wSkkHRZQy24K17buSceB@reddit

The real crazy idea is always in the comments.

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Tntn13@reddit

Especially deboarding it would be much more efficient time wise.

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UniquePotato@reddit

You’d never co-ordinate 250 people to do that. Its hard enough to get them to all turn up at the gate when asked

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throwawaye1712@reddit

Fastest theoretical way is Steffen-Perfect but assumes humans can be perfectly organized and obey order. It may work in Japan but that’s pretty much it.

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tamesage@reddit

The back of the plane should board first.

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CrunchyAssDiaper@reddit

First should be the disabled. Second should be those with kids in car seats. Third should be those in military active duty. Fourth should be the rear 3rd. Fifth should be the middle third. Sixth should be the front third / First class. Last should be anyone arriving late to the gate.

Having window boarding separate from middle or isle will breakup families. Then creating exceptions.

The exiting of the plane should work in reverse. The seatbelt signs should be turned off in sections.

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AustinBike@reddit

It will never work because humans are too insecure to board when they are supposed to and have to board with the people they are flying with. And trying to micromanage that situation will be a real shitshow. If you want a plane to board quickly just charge for carry on bags. I’m a 3m+ flyer, and carry on everywhere, even 2 week overseas trips, so I understand a bit bout boarding. And I am typing this between LAX and ORD right now.

I’d support a charge for carry on because it would make boarding a lot quicker.

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Chordata1@reddit

The problem is people with carryons sticking them in row 5 when their seat is in row 35. Every time you are going to get stuck with aisle people trying to get to the back of the plane to get their bag because of an entitled jerk

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devBowman@reddit

No matter the boarding strategy, it always underestimates the stupidity of the passengers

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SageTheWizard01@reddit

I think people without a carry on should be allowed to leave before people with carry ons.

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Dangerous-Fix7615@reddit

Splitting the plane in back to front, is one thing, but making people board per seating sounds more difficult. The trouble is not worth the time.

What I do think would make things better: let the people standing in the aisle leave already, everybody that still has to grab their bags, wait please. Letting people leave per aisle takes so much time...

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Intelligent_Donut605@reddit

It’s actually proven that a free for all is the fastest way of boarding

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gutfounderedgal@reddit

Some show on tv once, mythbusters? "tested" this and found it significantly sped up boarding time

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oldhead-Kendrickstan@reddit

watch the cgp grey video about this.

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Chris_Christ@reddit

I think they were able to show that the fastest (and least popular) is no assigned seat at all. Let people work it out for themselves like a bus or unscheduled light rail.

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bandit1206@reddit

I’ll take slower over that garbage. I want my aisle seat.

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grafknives@reddit

Is the "taking the seats" the most TIME CRITICAL part of air travel?

Even if we board faster, the plane will not start faster, there are other delays, and procedures.

And to REALLY benefit from optimised seat taking they would need to force passengers to move faster, by giving them less time.

So you as passenger would mostly experience more stress, not faster travel and better boarding.

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europeanguy99@reddit

CGP Grey has made a nice video analyzing the speed of different ways of boarding: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oAHbLRjF0vo

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BigBlueMountainStar@reddit

Air New Zealand used to do this.

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VirtuteECanoscenza@reddit

Make an auction before boarding to decide the order...

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Correct-Onion420@reddit

There was a YouTube video explaining that many methods have been tried and in the end, random order gave the best results.

https://youtu.be/oAHbLRjF0vo?is=tTHvg63pJF19IlZf

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MelonElbows@reddit

No, the best way would be to redesign airplanes so that there's multiple doors people can use to board. Have like 3 different doors in the front, back, and middle, and tell people to go to whichever door is in the section they want to sit in.

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wSkkHRZQy24K17buSceB@reddit

Most airliners already have multiple doors. The main constraint is terminal frontage, and space required for multiple jet bridges.

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hula1234@reddit

Plane would become too heavy

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MelonElbows@reddit

Remove some seats

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hula1234@reddit

Don’t have any seats! Everyone hang from straps like the subway!

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MelonElbows@reddit

Actually this reminds me of an idea I had. No seats, everyone sits on the floor. No overhead bin either, just lay on your luggage.

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misssedlinehaul@reddit

Just use both forward and rear doors at same time.

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Haunting-Button-4281@reddit

Everyone has to get on the plane. It makes no difference

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iamdecal@reddit

So my 4 year old goes on

Then a bit later my 8 year old

Then my wife

Then me

That doesn’t sound chaotic at all.

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Icy_Huckleberry_8049@reddit

Already tried several times, it failed because PEOPLE won't follow the suggestions and will do what they want.

UA just tried it a couple of years ago and stopped it because of PEOPLE not following the order of boarding

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Irnbruhue@reddit

I recently took 2 internal flights in Japan and they pretty much did this. Window seats were group 3, middle group 4 and aisle group 5. Each group was called with a slight delay, so the queue was roughly sorted. It wasn't strictly enforced so as a family who knew we had all seats in a row we could board together anyway. Seemed to work well enough.

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keyser90@reddit

The solution is: Jetway to the rear door for boarding jetways to front and rear doors for deplaning

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zdriveee@reddit

It was never about speed its about overhead storage space. Until we see draconian enforcement of overhead storage usage, this will never happen

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britishmetric144@reddit

United already does this.

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DaChronisseur@reddit

No idea why you're down voted, you're correct. Group 1 is first class and frequent flyers with status, group 2 is frequent flyers with less status, group 3 is windows, 4 is middle, 5 is aisle, 6 is Frontier passengers who are flying United today.

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Sasquatch-d@reddit

That’s not how United allocates boarding groups today.

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scientooligist@reddit

Here’s my upvote for being correct. No clue how this is in the negative

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dogatthewheel@reddit

Nah, works great on paper but there are so many ways it just doesn’t work in reality.

Back before my disability progressed I looked healthy but couldn’t lift my arms above my head. Thankfully I travel with a friend or family member and they would put my bag in the bin. Nobody would even know I wouldn’t be able to do it alone.

A lot of people have similar minor issues that don’t need a whole “accommodation process” with the current system, but if you start splitting up parties all these people will have to get overrides or extra assistance by flight attendants and trying to keep track of who needs what creates even more issues.

I know when my grandparents traveled together they both had physical and mental impairments that they could work through as a team but if you separated them it would be a nightmare. One can’t see to read very well, the other couldn’t hear. That kind of situation is not at all rare.

Lastly if they did figure out some kind of easy accommodation process that would allow people to go as a group then you know within days the entitled people would show up and start abusing that system.

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iMCharles@reddit

This wouldn’t work, it would split up families and make it a lot harder than it would need to be.

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LATER4LUS@reddit

Japan already does this and it works wonderfully

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No_Pineapple6086@reddit

Nah, that's just as bad as now. Instead, load the back 25 % first and roll it forward.

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irun50@reddit

May work. May not. All I know is we all need more grace from our fellow humans when we travel among crowds.

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Pleasant_Pen8744@reddit

Is but the getting on that sucks so bad it's the getting off.

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BoogersMcD@reddit

United does this. https://www.united.com/en/us/fly/travel/airport/boarding-process.html#boarding-groups

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Dancingbeavers@reddit

Mythbusters found the most efficient method.

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Commercial_Badger_37@reddit

That's actually smart as fuck.

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Weed_O_Whirler@reddit

It doesn't help nearly as much as you'd think.

By far the biggest slowdown is people stopping to put bags in the overhead bin, not crossing over people already sitting.

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Want_To_Live_To_100@reddit

Goodluck trying to get my 6 year old to go in there without me and load his own carry on into the overhead bin.

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Mysterious-Tie7039@reddit

Worth a watch

https://youtu.be/oAHbLRjF0vo?si=8_V_rIbLXx-FWTzB

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Soular@reddit

https://youtu.be/oAHbLRjF0vo?si=QL6UWkJKypzGW09B

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silentstorm2008@reddit

Nah, they rather have people care about and pay for priority boarding since it makes them more money....which is more important that customer frustration

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Byrkosdyn@reddit

Boarding the plane is not the critical path for taking off and on-time departures, so making this process more efficient doesn't help anything. There also have been multiple attempts at boarding the planes a bunch of different ways , and nothing really makes boarding the plane faster.

Frequent flyers and first class get to board early to guarantee their carry-ons are in the overhead compartment and near them. They also usually sit near the front, because then you get off the plane faster. The last point is the engine noise at the front of the plane usually seems to be less than behind the engines.

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notwhoiwas44@reddit

and nothing really makes boarding the plane faster.

That's not at all true. A system like what the OP proposes has been shown to be like 30% faster.

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MistakenAnemone@reddit

But you still won't take off any faster.

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Byrkosdyn@reddit

The Steffen method is run as a simulation, but has been criticized as being impractical because it means sorting people perfectly to do it. Even his modified method has similar issues.

The biggest issue with any system is going to be getting people to actually do it.

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fuzzimus@reddit

This has been studied and modeled. Surprisingly, an efficient way to board is completely randomly.

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britsol99@reddit

Some non-US countries board using both the front and rear aircraft doors simultaneously.

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enilcReddit@reddit

What happens when a family of 5 boards? What happens 8 families of 5 board?

Your little idea doesn’t pass the “but humans” test.

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joe_falk@reddit

The biggest problem with boarding is the people that blatantly violate the carry-on rules.

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mhizzle@reddit

Everyone do yourselves a favour and watch CGPgrey's video

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txmail@reddit

The only reason I will line up is when I need to put something in overhead. When I can afford to fly business or first class I will let the person at the counter know that I want to be the last person getting on the airplane (since my overhead is mostly guaranteed). I want to spend as little time in that tube as possible (even when I have business, first class or better).

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Guilty-Statement6839@reddit

What about the 5 year old kids? They cant just walk alone

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Funny-Presence4228@reddit

In theory, there's a way to do this individually from the back of the plane to the front: first the window seat in the rear, then the middle, then aisle, followed by the second from back row in the same order, and so on all the way to the front. In reality, getting humans to behave like that doesn't work. It would be easier with sheep.

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YesterShill@reddit

We need a Disney-esque pre-boarding queue and show that loads 10 rows at a time, back to front. Complete with floor markings that you stand on so you can load in perfect order (a la Star Tours, etc).

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Icy_Walrus_5035@reddit

The simplest solution is to put first class at the farthest back of the plane they can onboard first and everyone can watch them off board. It solves every problem with flying…

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Byrkosdyn@reddit

The front of the plane in the quietest and most comfortable part of the plane, it also gets off the plane first which is the most important part of all of this.

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Icy_Walrus_5035@reddit

You really just stated how it is instead of thinking if it could be different…

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Byrkosdyn@reddit

First class is quieter because it is in front of the wings/engines. Your proposal is to put them behind the engines, where it will be louder. The back of the plane is also bumpier than over the wing or in the front. I can't imagine a world where this can be reasonably changed. It's easier to enforce the front rows exiting the plane first. It's rare that people allow those with short connections off first, it is not feasible to have a rule people will follow to allow the back of the plane to exit first.

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