Wow. Where has jetBlue Airlines been all my life? They board from back to front. Why don’t other airlines understand the logic of this? It literally takes 10 minutes to fill the plane this way. It is heaven.
I think I will try to fly jetBlue from now on.
I’ll deal with potentially 'splody planes if it means I don’t miss another connecting flight because the airline couldn’t get the plane boarded in anything near a timely manner. I’m talking to you American/US Airways.
Other than the one time I flew Southwest (never again) every flight I have ever been on boards from back to front. Who doesn’t do this?
JetBlue has a ton of flights out of Boston Logan and we take them every time we can. The experience, in general, is MUCH better than any other domestic carrier I’ve flown on in the last decade.
Procrustus: OP means they don’t use “zones” but just the old-school straight back-to-front.
All of you fellow JB fans: Enjoy it while you can. The investment bankers are all up their grill in that they should be more like the other airlines and charge more fees and cram more seatsbecause that’s what causes quarterly upticks in the stock price and that’s the reason for being of a business, not providing satisfying service to the customer, and when the long-time CEO announced he is leaving next yearthe stock analysts began pumping up that this means such change.
I fly a lot, and I can tell you unequivocally, that I have never had a more pleasant and quick boarding experience than I had today flying jetBlue, ever. Most airlines I have the displeasure of flying board by zones, which is an absolute nightmare, and a ridiculous time waster, compounded by the myriad exceptions, with passengers virtually camped out in the aisles of the early rows while a growing queue of other passengers waiting to pass can’t. It’s a stupid, bordering on retarded system. Boarding from back to front simply makes sense.
Yep, I flew jetBlue from Philly to Boston yesterday, and back to Philly today. Loved it.
Also, although they are really minor things, jetBlue has seat-back video screens with free entertainment on its planes. They also continue to serve snacks and soft drinks on all their flights for no extra purchase when most other domestic airlines have either stopped providing snacks or provide them for purchase only.
Please, name an airline that has true back to front boarding other than jetBlue.
Well, it’s not “truly” back to front, in that I believe the Even More Space passengers up front board before those in coach in the back.
I heard the boarding clerk call out “Even More Space” at the beginning of the boarding process, but no passenger walked up on either of my flights and, after a few seconds, they went to general boarding from back to front. It was great. 
From what I can tell, the increased space for the Even More Space seats is hardly worth it. They are introducing a lie-flat seat on the LAX-JFK flight for $600 each way. That might be worth it on the redeye flight, just so I can sleep properly.
Agreed. And I can get a direct flight from Boston Logan to Jacksonville, FL. And the seats aren’t teeny-tiny, and TV’'s in the back of the seat in front of you.
When I brought my cats up from Jacksonville to Boston, Jet Blue was very helpful and nice.
I try to fly them all the time. I hope I never have to travel for my job – they like Delta and United (puke).
The challenge with back to front boarding is passenger behavior with carry-ons. Every airline I’ve worked for has tried BtoF with mixed to poor results.
Here’s why: A sizeable fraction of the first passengers getting on the plane put their suitcases (& coats & … ) in the overhead bins at the front and then walk to the back unencumbered & sit down. Then when the later passengers are getting on to sit up front, all the empty bin space is in the back. So now we have 2-way traffic in the aisle. Which *really *doesn’t work.
I wonder how well it really works at JB versus the one nice flight our OP had. I haven’t ridden them recently enough to have any data points.
I do know that if a flight has lots of empty seats then BtoF can work OK. There simply aren’t enough first boarders to take all the up-front bin space. Or if by some miracle JB passengers are less thoughtlessly selfish than those who fly the other carriers it could work.
I agree the 4 or 5 zones, intermixed with 3 or 4 layers of elite fliers plus separate exceptions for families plus handicapped makes for an irritating form of barely-controlled chaos. The front-to-back zone approach comes from the ops research & passenger service people who know what actually works best, and the elite status, family, & handicapped special exceptions come from Marketing. Need I say more?
If it changes, I guess I’ll claim a flying phobia and take the train or drive. shrug
I once flew United and they boarded window to aisle. I’d never heard of that but it was the quickest boarding I’ve ever experienced. If there were carry-on issues I didn’t see them.
So why aren’t passengers told, “Please place your carry-on luggage in the overhead bin over your assigned seat.”?
I always assumed that was the rule, but I also thought it was against the rules to carry on 25" giant overstuffed wheeled suitcases that you can’t lift on your own. (I’m looking at YOU, ladies! Check the damn bag!)
You missed the life lesson which says “All rules are for *other *people to get them more out of my way so I can do what *I *want unencumbered.” That rule seems to be the only one a sizeable fraction of the populace lives by.
Seriously, BtoF could work if the company stationed Flight Attendants along the way to enforce carrying your bags all the way back to your seat.
You know, I hear about this all the time, and I am sure it happens, but I fly a few times a month for work, and I have never experienced this. Again, not saying it doesn’t happen, but I believe its prevalence is well overblown.
Two nice flights; one to Boston on Monday, and then back to Philly on Tuesday, both equally wonderful boarding experiences.
Let me repeat, boarding from front to back is bordering on retarded.