Final Call For.......

A recent report in the New Scientist says that enplaning based on the seating order of flight passengers would not be the most efficient way to complete the boarding process. The reason cited is that the passengers occupying the aisle seats could end up boarding first thereby causing some delay in the boarding of passengers who have been allotted the window seat. The study also states that the time taken to complete the enplaning through the current process would be similar to the time taken to complete the boarding process if the passengers are allowed to board in a random manner.

One of the solutions given in the report is to ask the passengers occupying the window seat to board first. Even this solution would not be devoid of any problems as the passengers in the first few rows would be standing up to put their strollers and bags in the overhead compartment, thereby blocking access to the passengers who need to make their way to the last few rows.

Surprisingly, perhaps, getting people to queue at random does pretty well, but the best practical option is to board window seats first, followed by middle and aisle. That means there is no need to ask the lanky bloke in the aisle seat to unfold his legs from round his ears and stand up while you sit by the window, for example.

If the problem is so obvious, how long do we have to wait to see these recommendations being implemented by some of the best-in-class airlines?