What is the most efficient way to load passengers into an aircraft: randomly; in blocks; or the passengers in window seats first, followed by those in middle seats, then those in aisle seats?
David Roffey
London, UK
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The answer is complicated. It depends on what you mean by efficiency, as well as on some pretty important assumptions.
If you just look at the time taken to seat everyone – assuming the passengers are all single people who can follow instructions, briskly walk to their assigned seat, put a single bag into the overhead locker and sit down – there would be surprisingly little difference between the answers. But studies have suggested that the winning strategy in this case is to fill the window seats (from the rear to the front), then the centre seats and, lastly, the aisle seats.
Now, the caveats. Firstly, to measure the total efficiency of the operation, you also need to count the time it takes to get everyone to the door in the right order. The more factors in the desired ordering, the longer it will take. This would almost certainly eat into the difference between the method described above and a simple rear-to-front ordering.
Also, people come in groups and don’t want to be separated. They often don’t have just a single, small bag that fits neatly into the overhead locker, either, and so leave less room for the remaining passengers’ bags. This means progress is likely to be disrupted by people looking for bag space and blocking the aisle.
Lastly, people don’t actually board in the order they are called to do so. Stopping passengers to check whether they are following the rules takes more time than it saves, reducing efficiency.
So, not too amazingly, the semi-random order in which airlines habitually carry out this operation is the least worst option overall – particularly in reducing the emotional energy that has to be expended by the crew.
Chris Daniel
Glan Conwy, Conwy, UK
In 2014, the MythBusters television series tested six different boarding methods using a mock-up of an aircraft cabin and 173 volunteers acting as passengers. They found that filling the seats in window-middle-aisle order (the “WILMA” method) and variations of this technique were the , taking around 15 minutes.
Random boarding with allocated seats was about two minutes slower. Random boarding with no allocated seats was the fastest method tested, taking about 14 minutes, although both of these methods were chaotic and the least popular.
The block boarding method, which is the one most commonly used by airlines, was the slowest, taking on average 60 per cent longer than the others. The delays are largely caused by the queue of passengers in the aisle being brought to a halt by people at the front stopping to load their luggage into the overhead lockers.
Other methods have also been tried by airlines. One, devised by astrophysicist Jason Steffen in 2008, is nearly twice as fast as block boarding. It is similar to WILMA, but passengers board in alternating rows, on one side of the plane at a time, from back to front. This improves the likelihood that passengers will reach their seats unimpeded. It is, however, difficult to implement routinely.
The is claimed to be the quickest of all. Passengers assemble in groups of 30 or 40 in the corridor leading to the plane, where the floor is marked with a grid corresponding to their seat numbers. Passengers then board in this exact order.
There are several reasons for airlines continuing to use inefficient boarding methods. One is that the frustrations due to the delays they cause can be turned into a revenue stream in the form of priority boarding passes.
Philip Morey
Kalaru, New South Wales, Australia
Pre-seat passengers outside the plane, then forklift blocks of seats into it from a rear opening, such as the type used in the military plane the C-17 Globemaster III.
David Cunnold
Bath, UK
Usually, we sit in the departure lounge until the queue has boarded. We then take a gentle stroll to the gate and on to our two aisle seats on the aeroplane. Job done, never missed a flight yet.
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