# Airplane Boarding on Mythbusters



## TinCan782 (Sep 24, 2014)

http://www.businessinsider.com/mythbusters-airlines-are-boarding-their-planes-all-wrong-2014-9


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## SarahZ (Sep 24, 2014)

That pyramid makes so much sense. Boarding back to front means people have to climb over each other if they're in the window seat and get there later. By boarding rear/window, then rear/middle, then rear/aisle, and so on is so much better.


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## railiner (Sep 25, 2014)

But that method can also have glitches...such as parents being separated from their children momentarily....that would not work, so exceptions would have to be made, or "pre-boarding" in those cases, as before.....


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## SarahZ (Sep 25, 2014)

railiner said:


> But that method can also have glitches...such as parents being separated from their children momentarily....that would not work, so exceptions would have to be made, or "pre-boarding" in those cases, as before.....


Exactly. Groups would still board together. If my boyfriend and I had the window seat and middle seat, we would simply board before the person in the aisle seat. They could check the boarding passes to verify, since they scan the boarding passes before you walk onto the jetway anyway.


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## Devil's Advocate (Sep 25, 2014)

I actually prefer the current Southwest Airlines system. I generally pay a few extra dollars to get an early boarding number with plenty of room for my roll-a-board and no middle seats to worry about. Before you know it everyone is on board and the plane is in the air. It's perfect for how commercial flying is used today. I also have priority boarding with US/AA and UA as well and it helps somewhat, but in the end I prefer Southwest regardless.


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## railiner (Sep 25, 2014)

Being a gate agent nowaday's has to be one of the most stressful jobs at the airport....airlines have unbelievably complicated "priorities" for boarding, based on so many factor's, including past passenger status, etc. Problems with 'E- ticketing, misconnects, arguing over excess bags, etc...pressure to hold space for confirmed late arrivals, but opposing pressure to close the door early enough to insure not taking a 'hit' for a delayed departure.....sure glad I don't have that job....


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## JayPea (Sep 25, 2014)

Devil's Advocate said:


> I actually prefer the current Southwest Airlines system. I generally pay a few extra dollars to get an early boarding number with plenty of room for my roll-a-board and no middle seats to worry about. Before you know it everyone is on board and the plane is in the air. It's perfect for how commercial flying is used today. I also have priority boarding with US/AA and UA as well and it helps somewhat, but in the end I prefer Southwest regardless.



This one of many reasons why I prefer Southwest to any other airline. The extra money spent to get early boarding makes it so much worth it to me.


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## jis (Sep 25, 2014)

For a 737 sized plane, the boarding time differences are not that great and hence provide an opportunity to play around with every so often to show that something is being done about it. 

OTOH, when one insists on boarding a 777 sized plane through a single door as seems to be the general practice in the US at many airports, well you get exactly what you pay for. But then again, when it takes 1:30 to 2 hours to turn the plane of that size including refueling and all, whether it takes 40 mins to load or 55 mins probably doe not matter much.

At outstations they seem to be able to routinely turn a 777 in two hours with the most haphazard loading algorithms.


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## NW cannonball (Sep 25, 2014)

This whole thing is so amusing. One door, 200 to 500 tiny seats, capital cost per sardine can $50 million and up.

No wonder people prefer to drive or take the train.


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## jis (Sep 25, 2014)

NW cannonball said:


> This whole thing is so amusing. One door, 200 to 500 tiny seats, capital cost per sardine can $50 million and up.
> 
> No wonder people prefer to drive or take the train.


Usually the drive or train option is absent for typical flights flown by 777s though. A boat, maybe.  

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


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