There have been several stories over the past few months about airlines once again playing with how they board people on flights in the hopes of speeding turning around flights.  Remember that if you can turn a plane around in 30 minutes vs one hour, you can literally change the profitability of that aircraft from bad to good for any one day.

Some airlines board from the back to the front and that was fairly common for a long time.  Others set groups that include people spread around in the passenger area which has been found to be “speediest” and then there is the SWA cattle call which has no assigned seating but which does prioritze boarding by group and with fees.

The typical load for a 2 hour flight in the US has roughly 140 passengers or more and for airlines offering two classes of service, I have a suggestion.  Board first class first and last (2 groups) and let them choose which they prefer to enjoy.  But here is the revolutionary in me:

Board economy class without assigned seating for any flights 3 hours or less.  The random nature of choosing your seat in that model lends itself to “spreading” the process out and there is a reason why it provides a faster turnaround for Southwest Airlines.  Put those in economy class into 3 boarding groups and just let the chips fly where they may but offer the opportunity to be in the first group for a fee.

Finally, board economy class with assigned seating for flights over 3 hours in duration and randonmize each group in economy class seating. 

There.  I’ve started the fire, go ahead, fan the flames.

Filed under: Airline Fees, Airline Seating by ajax