Letting slower passengers board airplane first is faster, study finds • Hacker News Board

Re: Letting slower passengers board airplane first is faster, study finds

#251

Post by MereInterest » Thu, Jan 16, 2020, 12:52 AM UTC

benhurmarcel wrote: post #155

MereInterest wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It wasn't that recent. I was flabbergasted by an advertisement in an airport in 2013, which was trying to entice people into a membership with "Free checked bag? Don't worry. You'll get used to it." Advertising as extravagant exactly what used to be standard with the ticket.

> what used to be standard with the ticket Base tickets are cheaper now however.

I can buy a checked bag for myself. What I can't do is change that back to being the social norm so that everybody can get on and off the plane in a reasonable amount of time.

Re: Letting slower passengers board airplane first is faster, study finds

#252

Post by crooked-v » Thu, Jan 16, 2020, 12:55 AM UTC

xvector wrote: post #239

birdyrooster wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe exceptions can be made for children?

The fastest solution is having families with children exit last. If someone wants to exit together they can do so after everyone else is gone.

That leaves people in window seats bottlenecked behind families.

Re: Letting slower passengers board airplane first is faster, study finds

#253

Post by shpongled » Thu, Jan 16, 2020, 12:55 AM UTC

londons_explore wrote: post #140

benhurmarcel wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> getting on/off with my family is not optional for me. Ryanair has now accustomed Europeans to travel separately from their family, so it wouldn't surprise me to see that requirement change if it drops the price.

Ryanair has pretty much given up enforcing seat allocations. Sure, your boarding pass might say one seat number, but it's pretty much a "sit in any free seat" policy. 90% of the time when i get on the plane someone else is in my seat, so I'm forced to sit in a random seat, giving someone else the exact same issue. The staff know that getting everyone back into the correct seats will take a massive effort, so don't bo…

You tell the person to get out of the seat you paid for.

I strongly prefer aisle seats. I once had a girl ask me to switch seats with her so that she could sit next to her boyfriend. Since she had a middle seat, I politely declined, explaining that I would only switch with another aisle seat. She proceeded to throw a fit, calling me an asshole, etc, etc. I paid extra (how have we even come to this?) to be able to pick my seat, I'm not going to give it up for free.

Don't let people bully you.

Re: Letting slower passengers board airplane first is faster, study finds

#254

Post by shpongled » Thu, Jan 16, 2020, 12:59 AM UTC

kyllo wrote: post #230

This reminds me of the book The Goal by Eli Goldratt. It's fictional, but there's a story about a boy scout troop that goes on a hike, and there's an overweight kid named Herbie who hikes the slowest. The troop leader teaches everyone that the entire group as a whole will reach the top faster (and stay together) if they keep Herbie in the front. When you have a bottleneck step in your process, the whole end-to-end pr…

We would rotate who got to be at the front on long treks (Philmont). As the 'head' of the snake, you take ~100 paces or whatever, then you step off to the side of the trail until the entire group has passed you. You are now the 'tail' of the snake. The new head of the snake then steps off after 100 paces and everyone passes them etc. The side benefit is that everyone gets to take short rests as they wait for the 'body' of the snake to pass them.

Re: Letting slower passengers board airplane first is faster, study finds

#255

Post by woutr_be » Thu, Jan 16, 2020, 1:04 AM UTC

bschwindHN wrote: post #249

frankus wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Idle thought I had a while back: Let people who don't have anything in the overhead bins get off first.

Orrrr, hear me out, we just deal with people being a bit slow as just a part of life and remember that it's amazing we're able to fly at all.

I recently had to travel home last minute, this is a 9.400km trip, amazingly it took me less than 18 hours door-to-door, probably could've done it in less than 16 hours if I didn't leave to the airport so early. I could care less if getting off the plane took 5-10 minutes longer than it should.

Re: Letting slower passengers board airplane first is faster, study finds

#256

Post by drewg123 » Thu, Jan 16, 2020, 1:04 AM UTC

bdamm wrote: post #224

drewg123 wrote: post #215

The problem with the boarding process is luggage. What airlines should do would be to make a checked bag free, and charge for overhead-bin use. That will reduce the boarding time by reducing the time to find bin space and stow luggage. I suspect that airlines don't have an option to try this, because they all have co-branded credit card deals and frequent flier programs where some of the perks are free checked bags.…

Also they won't do this because business flyers usually don't check bags. That way they won't be lost (by the airline) and so control over their destiny is retained by the flyer. I've done quite a few international trips, even week long trips, without checked luggage. Having your luggage get lost can be a real time consuming hassle and one you don't want to deal with when on a business trip.

Yes, agreed. I'm a business traveler, and I'm happy to pay extra to carry on if I have to.

Re: Letting slower passengers board airplane first is faster, study finds

#257

Post by JshWright » Thu, Jan 16, 2020, 1:08 AM UTC

cogman10 wrote: post #145

frankus wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Idle thought I had a while back: Let people who don't have anything in the overhead bins get off first.

People without stuff should sit next to the aisle. (and get on last)

Without stuff in the overhead bin*

I routinely travel with just a backpack that fits under the seat in front of me (packed for 3-5 days).

Re: Letting slower passengers board airplane first is faster, study finds

#258

Post by rootusrootus » Thu, Jan 16, 2020, 1:08 AM UTC

trillic wrote: post #86

ehnto wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much longer do you get typically? I never have to wait that long to board as economy so I am curious if my economy boarding is atypical. I could totally see how an hour sitting in first class might be nicer than poking about a terminal. Is it ever that long?

It really depends on the size of the airplane. Just a couple weeks ago I was one of the first 10 people to board the plane and was in "Premium Economy" on a 777-300ER for a full flight from Eastern Europe to the Midwestern US. I'd guess I was on the plane for nearly an hour before we pushed back from the gate. But this is for a plane with 300 people that boarded through a single door.

That is mindblowing. Even on an A380 that was only boarding through a single door I've never experienced an hour on the ground in the plane before pushing back. That would be super annoying.

Re: Letting slower passengers board airplane first is faster, study finds

#259

Post by JshWright » Thu, Jan 16, 2020, 1:08 AM UTC

magduf wrote: post #212

hombre_fatal wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People don't have control over this. The overhead compartments near your seat are full and thus closed, so you must put them elsewhere. One person with two massive carry-ons can basically fill an entire compartment alone.

That's why the crew should be enforcing the bag limits. One person is only supposed to have 1 carry-on, and it's supposed to be a relatively small size.

Generally it's one carry-on and one "personal item".

Re: Letting slower passengers board airplane first is faster, study finds

#260

Post by duderific » Thu, Jan 16, 2020, 1:09 AM UTC

daxfohl wrote: post #190

How about everyone deposits their carry on bags on carts in the gate waiting area, of the exact dimensions at the overhead bins. Then workers transfer them to the overhead compartments while cleaning crew is working. Finally everyone takes their seats without fuss.

Cool idea. Wouldn't the carry-on bags be all over the plane though, and not necessarily anywhere near where you're sitting? De-planing in that scenario would be a nightmare.

There would need to be a separate system to mark your carry on bag with your seat number, so it could be in the bin relatively close to where you're sitting.