# Is there a technical term for the walkways for boarding aircraft? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 3, 2007, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-technical-term-for-the-walkways-for-boarding-aircraft/398618 "2007-04-03T21:17:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-technical-term-for-the-walkways-for-boarding-aircraft/398618/1 "2007-04-03T21:17:05Z")
You know, the hydraulic things that bolt onto the exit doors so you can walk directly through to the terminal. Is there a proper word for them? ---
**Author:** ![Sparklo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Sparklo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparklo)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-technical-term-for-the-walkways-for-boarding-aircraft/398618/2 "2007-04-03T21:19:13Z")
Are you thinking of [jetways](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jetway)? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-technical-term-for-the-walkways-for-boarding-aircraft/398618/3 "2007-04-03T21:26:27Z")
[QUOTE=Sparklo] Are you thinking of [jetways](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jetway)? [/QUOTE] Apparently I am, but I don’t think that was the word on the tip of my tongue. Air bridge, perhaps. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-technical-term-for-the-walkways-for-boarding-aircraft/398618/4 "2007-04-03T21:27:42Z")
From watching that ‘Airport’ programme on ITV, I believe in the UK they’re called simply “tunnels”. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-technical-term-for-the-walkways-for-boarding-aircraft/398618/5 "2007-04-03T22:13:25Z")
The Wkipedia article mentions that Jetway is a trademark. The generic term I’ve heard is passenger boarding bridge. And I don’t think they bolt onto the exit doors, but instead just kiss the fuselage. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-technical-term-for-the-walkways-for-boarding-aircraft/398618/6 "2007-04-03T22:20:56Z")
They are still referred to as Jetways as a generic term at least in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![chambraigne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@chambraigne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chambraigne)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-technical-term-for-the-walkways-for-boarding-aircraft/398618/7 "2007-04-03T23:03:58Z")
On my flight on Sunday, I remember that the gate attendant referred to it as a “Jetbridge.” I don’t know if that’s what you’re looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-technical-term-for-the-walkways-for-boarding-aircraft/398618/8 "2007-04-04T02:29:15Z")
I heard Arlo Guthrie call it The Time Tunnel once, and that’s what it’s been for me ever since. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-technical-term-for-the-walkways-for-boarding-aircraft/398618/9 "2007-04-04T02:46:12Z")
Bottlenecks. In much of the rest of the world, airdraft park on the ramp. Passengers are transported to the aircraft on busses, and board via wheeled starways. If you have ever landed “on time” and then waited 45 minutes to an hour for an available gate, you can appreciate the virtues of this austere system. Beyond the avilability of the gates, airport design often creates ground traffic bottlenecks, expecially with “hub and spoke” designed airports. ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-technical-term-for-the-walkways-for-boarding-aircraft/398618/10 "2007-04-04T03:42:10Z")
[FMC Technologies](http://www.fmctechnologies.com/AirportEquipmentServices/GateEquipment/BoardingBridges.aspx) is apparently the company that owns the Jetway® brand - they refer to them as “passenger boarding bridges” on the linked page. I, too, have hear the term _jet bridge_ used by airline personnel in my travels. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-technical-term-for-the-walkways-for-boarding-aircraft/398618/11 "2007-04-04T04:41:25Z")
They are air-bridges down here. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-technical-term-for-the-walkways-for-boarding-aircraft/398618/12 "2007-04-04T15:58:35Z")
[QUOTE=Kevbo] In much of the rest of the world, airdraft park on the ramp. Passengers are transported to the aircraft on busses, and board via wheeled starways. If you have ever landed “on time” and then waited 45 minutes to an hour for an available gate, you can appreciate the virtues of this austere system. Beyond the avilability of the gates, airport design often creates ground traffic bottlenecks, expecially with “hub and spoke” designed airports. [/QUOTE] There’s always a tradeoff. How do passengers cope with their carryons, small children and babies, baby strollers, and wheelchairs with the stairs? Isn’t there a rate of passenger injury related to slips and falls on the stairs? And even when everyone manages to get through it safely, isn’t there a bottleneck in getting on and off planes when they have to wait for the other passengers to [slowly] navigate those stairs? And who wants to have to contend with the weather complications from boarding/disembarking via stairs exposed to the elements? To pick but one pointed example: South Florida is the thunderstorm capital of the world. Do you really want to be standing on an elevated metal staircase in the middle of a tarmac during a pouring-cats-and-dogs thunderstorm at MIA? Didn’t think so! To say nothing of the cold-weather extremes elsewhere… and rain/snow/sleet etc. messing with people’s hair & clothes; the smell of soggy-wet woolens in the close cabin air of a plane… ugh. No, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-technical-term-for-the-walkways-for-boarding-aircraft/398618/13 "2007-04-04T18:18:15Z")
[QUOTE=The Scrivener] To say nothing of the cold-weather extremes elsewhere… and rain/snow/sleet etc. messing with people’s hair & clothes; the smell of soggy-wet woolens in the close cabin air of a plane… ugh. No, thanks! [/QUOTE] Exactly. I once had to transit Charles DeGaulle airport in Paris in February en route between Panama and Gabon. Since I was unaware they used this bus/stairs system there, I had not bothered to include a jacket in my carryon. It was pretty chilly riding on the buses en route to and from the main terminal. That was just one of the factors making me decide that CDG is one of the worst airports in the developed world. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-technical-term-for-the-walkways-for-boarding-aircraft/398618/14 "2007-04-04T23:22:23Z")
[QUOTE=The Scrivener] There’s always a tradeoff. How do passengers cope with their carryons, small children and babies, baby strollers, and wheelchairs with the stairs? [/QUOTE] Now that you mention it, they cope by either checking luggage or leaving some of that crap at home. Makes for a faster and more pleasant disembarkation. The stairways frequently have awnings, and the busses pull to within a few feet. Practicality aside, I just LIKE to look over the airplane, if only from a distance, before boarding. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-technical-term-for-the-walkways-for-boarding-aircraft/398618/15 "2007-04-05T01:11:09Z")
[QUOTE=Kevbo] Now that you mention it, they cope by either checking luggage or leaving some of that crap at home. Makes for a faster and more pleasant disembarkation. The stairways frequently have awnings, and the busses pull to within a few feet. [/QUOTE] I do agree that people bring way to much carry-on stuff on board aircraft these days, but it’s rather tricky for people in wheelchairs to either check them or leave them home! I have been carried off aircraft several times, but I’d really rather not experience that in inclement weather (particularly in icy conditions - I’d really rather not be dropped and go bouncing down the stairs). ---
**Author:** ![King\_Friday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@King\_Friday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Friday)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-technical-term-for-the-walkways-for-boarding-aircraft/398618/16 "2007-04-05T01:14:43Z")
At the airport I work for, you need an “L” on your badge to be able to operate the Loading Brigde. But I always call it a jetway. ---
**Author:** ![KCB615](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@KCB615](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KCB615)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-technical-term-for-the-walkways-for-boarding-aircraft/398618/17 "2007-04-05T01:52:00Z")
Add another vote for jet bridge. But I only work at an airport, so YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-technical-term-for-the-walkways-for-boarding-aircraft/398618/18 "2007-04-05T16:17:46Z")
[QUOTE=Kevbo] Bottlenecks. In much of the rest of the world, airdraft park on the ramp. Passengers are transported to the aircraft on busses, and board via wheeled starways. If you have ever landed “on time” and then waited 45 minutes to an hour for an available gate, you can appreciate the virtues of this austere system. [/quote] Apparently, from remembering _Airport ‘75’_, they’ve come up with a more comfortable variation of this at Dulles. At least this is how it was then and I assume it still is: there’s only one large terminal building, where the passengers board specially designed transports with floors more or less at terminal and airplane cabin level, that take them out to the plane. Once there, a short bridgeway extends from the bus to the aircraft door, and the passengers board. If you go to the Prelinger Archive and watch the Boeing 707 promotional film _6 1/2 Magic Hours_ (really a lot of fun and very retro), you’ll see they made a big point of how they speed operations by boarding and deboarding through both the front and the back doors, but I’ve never seen this done. Is there any reason that this simple procedural improvement never caught on? It seems like it would make the aggravation of getting off the plane a lot less. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-technical-term-for-the-walkways-for-boarding-aircraft/398618/19 "2007-04-05T16:25:52Z")
Do any large airports in the developed world still use the stairs for regular operations? San Diego’s airport only had the stairs when I was there in the 1970s, and so did Burbank the last time I went through there around 1986. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2007, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-technical-term-for-the-walkways-for-boarding-aircraft/398618/20 "2007-04-05T17:01:18Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] Apparently, from remembering _Airport ‘75’_, they’ve come up with a more comfortable variation of this at Dulles. At least this is how it was then and I assume it still is: there’s only one large terminal building, where the passengers board specially designed transports with floors more or less at terminal and airplane cabin level, that take them out to the plane. Once there, a short bridgeway extends from the bus to the aircraft door, and the passengers board. [/QUOTE] These are called mobile lounges. They generally came in three kinds: Ones that stayed at entry-way height; ones that used an accordion-type structure to raise and lower the lounge; and ones that used an elevator-type method (with two distinctive “smokestacks”) to raise and lower the lounge. Starting roughly the mid-80s, boarding aircraft from mobile lounges was phased out in favor of mid-field terminals that used conventional loading bridges. The mobile lounges were used to shuttle people to and from the various secondary terminals. Dulles is in the (I think) final stages of building underground walkways, tramways, or various other methods of moving passengers from the main terminal out to the mid-field terminals. Once this project is completed, the mobile lounges will be retired. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-technical-term-for-the-walkways-for-boarding-aircraft/398618.md?page=2)