Excellent point - It droves me nuts that airlines charge for checked bags, because it drives the incentives in exactly the wrong direction of everyone carrying on their bags which exacerbates the boarding problem.
I think that the expectation that the airlines (or any other big corporation) automatically knows what they are doing and is optimizing to lower cost and increase profit is a little naive. The modern corporation in the modern economy is a complicated system where actions do not always clearly lead to outcomes and when they do it takes a long time for the effect. I see lots of examples where companies are not even measuring their costs correctly in order to do some of the analyses proposed here.
The simulation would be fixable by including an āin a groupā factor and getting some information on actual boarding behaviors into the simulation. That would require (gasp!) experiments to measure those things. How about if an airline tried several different methods of boarding to see which worked, Iām sure it has happened already.
It would be a simple thing to enter different zones on the boarding passes. The gate agent would always do the same thing, the cards would have different orders on them and someone needs to time each one. Do thousands of these over a bunch of different times and conditions and you are set.
The last three or four flights I have been on they always ask for people to check carryon bags at the gate before boarding and they then have a few bags they canāt fit for the last people who get on and check those.
When Iām traveling alone I usually go light enough that I can use the underseat space or stick some of my stuff into small gaps int he bins, board late, and dodge the whole scramble for bins.
When Iām traveling with the kids I have come to the point where we pay to check just one large bag, and then gate check a carryon size if that is offered (3/3 so far) because I donāt really want the thing with me, Iām just calling their bluff about the $25. (I donāt want to haul 2 more carryons through the airport along with the kids, which I would have to do to check nothing, so they are getting me for $25).
HOWEVER
Boarding time? Who cares about boarding time? Basically everybody gets to the airport early anyway, so itās nearly moot. You sit around at the airport, you stand in a line, you sit on a plane. None of these options are great.
Lets talk about De-boarding time! Thatās what needs to be optimized. Any speed increase in de-boarding is more time I have on the beach or at home or in a meeting (well ok that last one is fairly moot).
I say people with no carryon bags in the bins be given priority for aisle seats and to disembark right after first/business class. The bins shall have remote locking systems installed such that the bags cannot be accessed until anyone willing to leave before they are unlocked does so.
Actually a lot of first-class folks are indeed adept travelers. Iāve flown first class myself 6-7 times now, always off a status upgrade from an economy ticket. The bulk of first class during busy business flight hours are filled with people like me who travel a lot, and have lots of miles. (more detailed response earlier in thread)
Itās ok, the TSA checked them all thoroughly before you boarded.
Then you must not fly very much, or fly only at off times. About half the time I fly the last 10-30% of passengers boarding have to gate-check any carry-on that canāt fit under the seat. Carry-on limits are only sparsely enforced, and the overhead bins hold nowhere near enough to let everyone reach the limit.
Because my knees are in worse shape than my head.
Question: whatās going on outside the plane during boarding? How much of the boarding time is needed anyway for loading luggage, refueling, doing maintenance checks, waiting for runway clearance, etc.? If we could magically instantly board all at once, how long would the plane have to sit at the gate anyway?
Keep in mind that the airlines donāt exactly care about boarding time. They care about how many trips their planes can make a day and how many employee-hours it takes to make them, including how many employee-hours it takes to stuff the people in and how long gates are occupied.
Southwestās lack of assigned seating should mean they donāt need as many people to shuffle seat assignments around before takeoff, so even if the way they do it is a bit slower it might still be a bit cheaper in other ways.
So I suppose there are really a few catergories of travelers:
Ultra-light travelers who donāt check bags and donāt need bins. They should board last and deboard first. Everyone else should support their leaving early because they free up some room to maneuver for bins in the plane.
Carryon traverlers who donāt check bags but do need bins. They should board early to get bin space on full flights, but want to deboard early because they are right off to their destination.
Checked bag travelers. They should only have bin-requiring carryons in an attempt to call the airlines bluff. They should board late. They shouldnāt care all that much about deboard, because they will have to wait for the baggage anyway.
I think youāre confusing flying frequently and being good at packing your suitcase with being āadept at boardingā in some way that makes you better than other travellers. The disdain for people who donāt fly around the country on business or arenāt able to fly first class is almost palpable.
This. And also the immediate race for the aisle once the seatbelt sign goes out upon landing. Iām still amazed that folks jump up, just to stand still for another five or ten minutes as the aircraft empties. Skipping those time-honored stupidities has made my flying life much easier to bear.
What kind of flights do you go on where they donāt go to gate-checking about 3/4 of the way through (which of course causes massive slowdowns as people have to walk off of the plane against the line to get their bags checked)? I would like to know, because ever since airlines started charging for checked bags the overhead bins are always full, unless youāre on a magical unicorn flight where the seats arenāt completely filled up.
Looks like Ryanair is coming to the rescue. Theyāre apparently going to start charging for overhead bin space as well. If you bring a bag on and donāt want to be charged for it, it has to go in the seat in front of you.
That irritation is of course replaced by the irritation of wait in line to check your bag and waiting at baggage claim. easily more than the time lost during boarding.
I love how much this comments section illustrates exactly what the article is explaining. That industries allow problems to fester just so you can buy a solution from them in the form of status. Internet companies offer slow internet just so they can sell you fast internet. Old Navy exists just to make banana republic patrons look better dressed. Etc etc.
I think you were mostly on message on that first part, but the rest of your comment on tiered products/services went off the rails.
I am pretty sure not everyone is sold the top tier of internet service because they can capture more market share with different price points. Same with Old Navy. Really, loyalty programs are all about market share as well, just more about keeping it rather than expanding it.
Iām with nungesser. Itās usually a LOT more comfortable to be standing awkwardly in the aisle than to spend one more minute in those seats, and heck, Iād probably spend a good chunk of the flight standing if theyād let me. (I already go for pretty regular ābathroom breaksā when the aisle isnāt blocked by food carts, just so I can get some time out of the seat)
I flew American a few months ago with my wife and kids (aged 1 and 4)ā¦ They no longer pre-board families with small children! Had I known this, I would have paid a few extra bucks and flown a different airline. Apologies to anybody on our flight who had to wait while I wrestled my kids (and all of their bags) into the various places that they needed to go.
United/American and USAir have been steadily eliminating anything human about their approach to flying. Whenever Iām forced to fly them, achingly slow boarding/deplaning, flight delays, and mechanical troubles are inevitable.
We were also baffled by Americanās boarding process. We werenāt able to check-in online (due to the 1 year old we were travelling with), but arrived at the airport 3 hours early (going through security with small children, strollers, etc is a NIGHTMARE) and we were in group 4. Which meant that we boarded last. Despite the fact that we were in the 4th or 5th row from the back of the plane. Thankfully, we had some lovely flight attendants (it helps to have cute, mostly well behaved kids who are experienced flyers) who were able to help us get our stuff into nearby overhead compartments (which was necessary to fetch various tools of distractions to keep said kids well behaved) by shuffling around some other folksā stuff. But holy crap, I still will never fly American again if I can at all avoid it.
