As to turning left/right, the large widebodies have one set of doors up near the very front of the cabin and a second set about 30-40 feet aft. Typically the best class is forward of those second set of doors and those doors are used for most boarding. The second class is the first 30ish feet aft of the second set of doors and the lowest class is from there aft to the tail. So upon entry, the high class folks turn left and the rest turn right. The smallest airplane that regularly uses the second door for boarding is the 757, and not all the time. Someone who only flies domestically in the US will probably never have seen this. But it’s common enough that “I turned left” is common passenger slang for “I got to sit in the good part of the plane”.
Double-ended boarding …
Substantially zero gates in the world are rigged up for front and rear boarding by jetbridge. But there are many small airports in the US and elsewhere where all boarding is by walking out onto the pavement, then climbing outdoor portable stairs or ramps to the airplane door(s). Most RJ-sized airplanes only have one door at the front, so double-ended boarding is impossible. The 737 & A320 series jets can and often do double ended-boarding at those airports.
It takes a few extra ground crew to do double-ended boarding & de-boarding, as well as one extra stair/ramp per parking place. Wrangling passengers so they don’t wander into the dangerous parts of the ground servicing effort also takes extra workers. So it’s far from universal. But boy does it speed things up where it’s done.
The biggest problem is Expedia and all those travel sites. To get the customers, airlines have to be the lowest price versus the competition - so they make it up on other fees - luggage, seats with leg room, refreshments, etc. Apparently some now charge for carry-ons and use of overhead bins according to the news.
(There’s the famous case of the accidentally reply-to-all from the airline exec about a complaining customer - “We don’t owe this guy anything. He came to us because we were $5 cheaper, and he’ll be back the moment we’re a penny less than the competition.”)
Funny thing is, one of my credit card perks - American Express and Visa - is 1 free bag checked on Air Canada. Amex also allows me to use the priority Airport Security line in Toronto. However, Air Canada has redefined the carry-on size slightly smaller than standard to help generate revenue, although based on subsequent observations their policy seems to be haphazardly enforced.
I’ve never seen boarding other than front-to-back, so I guess LSLguy has it right - fits with my observations too. The only exception was, I think KLM, many years ago in Schipol - they had colour zones instead of numbers, and used two gangways, so some zones boarded from the back, some from the front of a wide-body 2-aisle. They seemed to be using the farthest-in-first approach. At the other extreme was the late-boarding couple flying from Beijing who were making a circuit of the aircraft, opening every bin to try to find places for all of their many carry-ons. The flight attendant had to tell them multiple times to sit and use the space under the seat, but they conveniently did not hear or understand.
At least with Southwest there’s a procedure and an actual line that is somewhat enforced, if not by the flight attendants then by the other passengers. When I’ve flown other airlines where you have an assigned seat, they open the gate and it’s instant chaos.
That’s not what I’ve ever seen. I always fly United and they board by group number, with people lining up when their group is called. There’s no “chaos,” everyone just waits on line.
To be fair, first class seating is generally nicer than the seats in the waiting area at the gate. If I had a first-class ticket, I’d rather wait in one of those seats too.
Depends on the plane. When I fly between Detroit and Denver, it’s usually a 737 or something similar. The boarding door is just behind the cockpit, so all of the economy-class passengers move through the first class section. When I fly between Detroit and Japan, it’s usually an A-330 or A-350. In this case, the boarding door is just behind the first class section.
Well, that’s the issue. American doesn’t technically board Front to Rear. It boards by profit margin. it just ends up that mostly aligns with Front to Rear.
American boards by priority groups - 9 of them. You have your pre-boards. Your first/business class/active duty military. OneWorld (of various statuses like emerald or ruby or whatever). Premium economy. People who directly purchase priority boarding. AA credit card holders.
And then you get to the ‘normal’ boarding groups.
Most major airlines have similar systems. So, it won’t be much different. Once you get the priority groups out of the way, a fair portion of the front of the aircraft will already be occupied.
So “ignoring first class, disabled people & other priority seating”, as you state in your OP, throws out the baby with the bathwater.
Sure I’ve seen people standing and waiting for their number to be called, but never in amounts or places that actually block others from getting on the line.
All I’m saying is I’ve never seen “chaos” when boarding a plane with assigned seating.
Not me. If I were ever to fly first class, and I have not so far, I would be among the last to board, especially if it were an aisle seat. I would not want to have to sit there while 100+ of the little people shuffle thru, bumping me with their oversized carry on, and crop-dusting me as they go by. No thanks! If I fork out extra money for that seat I want to enjoy it while I am there.
Since airlines now charge for certain “preferred” seats even in the same cabin/class, they frown on passengers moving themselves. Someone taking my assigned seat like that and presuming that it’s perfectly OK would really piss me off. I’d politely ask the guy to please get out of my seat, and might even embellish the request with the claim that I paid extra for an aisle seat.
It’s bizarre to me that someone would allow another passenger to just take their seat like that. I picked that seat for a reason, that is what is on my ticket, move! There is no way I’d ever let that happen. Same at movie theaters, if you are in my seat, get the fuck out.
I’ve done it a few times – Hartford CT, Sacramento CA, Presque Isle, ME, and Albuquerque NM. All of those times were over 30 years ago, and Albuquerque, for one, I know sadly has a new airport.
If one doesn’t nicely ask first, bringing in officialdom might seem needlessly hostile, and might even irritate the FA who’s likely pretty busy at boarding time. If you do ask and the guy refuses, you now know you’ve got a major asshole on your hands, and are fully justified in acting accordingly.
If you’re really lucky, you might even get to witness an actual on-board brawl, and experience the excitement of watching a passenger being removed from the plane by security!
I don’t think I should have to ask nicely. Everyone has a boarding pass with their seat right on it. This guy is either stupid (and I’m not there to educate him) or he has a reason (and I’m not interested in hearing the reason). I just want my seat.
I’ve noticed in the last 10 years or so, the gate people are fairly strict about enforcing zone numbers. “I’m sorry sir, we’re boarding zone 1 now, please wait over there until Zone 3 is called.”
My wife books aisle if she can, because although we are the same height, her legs are longer than mine. (I have the torso of someone 6’4" and the legs of someone 5’4"). Usually what I do if I encounter someone in my seat is politely ask"I think you’re in the wrong seat. This is 14A." Compare boarding passes, point to his seat. I’ve never had an argument. On a full plane, we’ve volunteered to split up if it helped someone sit near their child (Has happened - mom and child in one row, other child behind them)
BTW, apparently some airlines now charge extra for an aisle seat, and also charge extra for you to pick your seat ahead of time - although if you check in online less than 24 hours before your flight you can usually pick a seat then for free…
The most memorable tarmac unloading was in Charles de Gaulle, where we then picked up our luggage. The baggage handlers were on strike - KLM would unload the luggage to the tarmac, but there was no process to send it to a carousel. Get off the back down the rolling stairway, grab your bag, then back up the stairs that led into the gate bridge. When we left Paris (by train, after a 2 hour delay while they cleared picketers down the track), where everyone was on strike and half the museums etc. were closed, I was happy to say we were heading to Italy, where the workers were more reliable.
Honestly, this is the way it SHOULD be done, and would eliminate several steps in the process (loading it onto a cart, driving it to the terminal, unloading the cart onto the carousel, and also mitigates the risk of a bag falling off the cart as the driver zig-zags around the terminal - I have seen that). If I have checked a bag it’s usually just one, and has wheels, and I would rather just collect my bag plane-side and be able to just go from there.
Meh I wasn’t in a fighting mood, though I was a bit bitchy about running roughshod over their toes and getting up and down for no reason during the flight which caused Joe much hassle.
