
Why Airplane Boarding Got So Ridiculous - prostoalex
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/05/heres-why-airplane-boarding-got-so-ridiculous.html
======
bensonn
The airlines chose to turn a simple logistical procedure into a silly game of
caste and cash. Passengers chose to play the game and try to win, beating
their fellow passengers. Moving 100 people 100 feet takes 45 minutes and 5
crew members to organize. Instead of everybody working together to make it
smooth, passengers compete against each other and the airlines. Passengers try
and get the largest bag possible on the plane free of charge. They try to get
on before other passengers so they can take up lots of overhead space and
normally try to put their bags in bins closer to the front than their seats.
Later passengers who sit up front then have to put their bags closer the the
back of the plane and then fight to get back there when it is time to get off.
They shove, squeeze and smash bags into the already filled bins rougher than
any bag handler could dream of in a desperate attempt to avoid checking. The
designers and players of the game all seem to work very hard in making the
simple task of getting on a plane very difficult, slow and unpleasant.

The whole game is so bizarrely penalizing that passengers actually want to be
first to get onto a cramped plane and sit down, where they will be cramped and
sitting hours on end. While flight is a modern miracle, flying is like the
Jerry Springer show- it is humans at their worst and is depressing to watch.

Why don't they just put seat numbers and dividers on the bins? Your luggage
fits in your bin or it gets checked at $25.

Travelling for one week or less and all my luggage (clean underwear and
toothbrush) fits into a small backpack that I still can't find room for when I
board late. Being tall means under the seat does't work well since my feet are
there. Anything less than ten hours drive is a road trip for me.

~~~
njarboe
Southwest avoids most of these problems. Two free checked bags removes
pressure from the overheads, no first class seats or extra legroom seats for
extra money, no reserved seats (just a line up number system). Lots of direct
flights and no real hub system. I try and fly them when I can.

~~~
BrandoElFollito
I flew SW for the first time a few weeks ago (I live in France). The flight
was great but I discovered something I have never seen elsewhere : the bus
stop plane.

I flew from Phoenix to Oakland with a stop in Portland. The ticket was PHX-
OAK, people got off the plane at Portland, some more got in. A bus stop in
short. It took 2.5 + 1.5h for a nominally 1h40min flight.

~~~
Boxxed
Isn't that just a normal, non-direct flight with a layover?

------
Yizahi
Author is implying that he only fears whatever time he needs to wait for
checked bag. I find it ridiculous - air travel is already an all day long
enterprise even on short flights - get to the airport, then minimum 2 hours
for all checks, then flight itself, then check on arrival (up to 1 hour), then
baggage if any and then get out of the airport. Baggage wait time is usually a
rounding error in all this. What is really important is that people usually
carry fragile and expensive things in hand luggage and is forced to check it
in there is a high probility of it breaking or theft. This is a real reason
for fighting for overhead space. Also losing all your luggage (checked in and
forced checked in) or even delaying it by few days is significantly more
painful if only one item was lost/delayed, especially if it was a trip from
home to another place (not reverse).

~~~
namdnay
And if you're travelling into a country with painful immigration processes
(e.g. USA), the time spent waiting for your baggage can be the difference
between a 15mn cue at immigration and a 2h cue at customs EDIT: the big queue
is at customs not immigration

~~~
Xixi
Traveling to U.S.A. is a pretty unique experience, depending on your
visa/status. And I don't mean it in a good way... With my E-2 visa crossing
immigration at JFK is anywhere between 20 minutes (very lucky) and 1 hour. To
be fair it has improved massively, it used to be 2+ hours. In any case my
checked baggage will be waiting for me, not the other way around.

But check-in is far worse: nobody knows how to handle an E-2 visa. Last time I
went to Japan it took 4 JAL employees 20 minutes to figure out which numbers
to enter where on their system. Still two hours less than Air France that may
or may not have someone to take care of passengers that cannot check in on
their DIY terminals... Hence I try to avoid Air France when flying to US, even
though otherwise I quite enjoy flying with them.

But really, there's no reason why waiting for checked luggage should be a
thing. I'm always thoroughly impressed when flying domestic Japanese flights:
get off the plane, walk to the luggage pick-up area, pick up luggage. No
waiting time: checked bags are already there. I don't even know how they do
that. Aéroport de Paris should send a team or two over there and study hard...

~~~
mikelward
I used to fly semi-regularly on an E-3 visa. The online check-in and airport
kiosks usually couldn't accept it, but the customer service staff never had a
problem with it.

Arriving in the US was a whole other matter. They often weren't familiar with
the E-3 rules for things like whether the 2 years starts when the visa was
issued or date of first arrival. They also wrote the wrong visa type one time,
which would have affected my employment authorization. Had to guide them thru
it a few times.

------
joezydeco
So the author argues that baggage handling is more efficient and trackable
than before, but baggage fees are "a disincentive to check luggage"?

I accept that baggage fees are designed to mask a lower advertised fare and/or
extract more pax revenue. And I don't understand the mad rush to skip baggage
claim and get out of the airport 15 minutes quicker. Baggage tracking and
recovery is indeed a lot quicker and I've never had a problem. And the lines
at car rental desks and taxi pickups didn't magically get shorter in my recent
observations. In fact they're longer.

I suppose that makes me an outlier, but the ~$25 is worth taking all the
stress out of queueing at the gate and trying to get on as quickly as
possible. Your time/value equation might be different.

~~~
cujo
* It costs money to check a bag. It costs nothing to carry it on.

* There is a non zero chance of a checked bag getting lost or damaged. The chances of that happening to a carry on are essentially 0.

* 15 minutes to get your checked bag may be the average. Sometimes the carosel has already started by the time I get there, but other times, I've waited nearly an hour (looking at you Salt Lake City).

So what your saying is that the cost + added risk + added time is worth it to
you vs queueing at the gate to fight for overhead. I suggest you pay the $15
upgrade to get in the front of the queue instead of the $25 bag fee and just
carry on.

~~~
joezydeco
_It costs money to check a bag. It costs nothing to carry it on_.

If I can spend an extra half hour in the lounge doing a little light work or
relaxing before the flight instead of jostling in line, it definitely has
value.

Like I said, the value of your time will probably differ from mine. For me,
$25 is a bargain.

------
wgerard
Another interesting wrench I've noticed: People who've lost their checked bags
at some point.

I know a few people who had their checked luggage lost by the airline, and the
aftermath was so painful that they basically refuse to check luggage ever
again.

I am curious whether the boarding process has gotten significantly longer over
time, and whether that costs airlines more money than they receive in baggage
fees. I'm sure the answer is "not by a longshot", but still curious
nonetheless.

~~~
forgottenpass
>the aftermath was so painful that they basically refuse to check luggage ever
again.

I know this is why people don't check luggage, but knowing the possibility
exists makes it possible to plan around. I don't often fly with more than a
backpack, but when I do I always check.

Nothing I don't mind losing forever, nothing that can't be temporarily
replaced. If bag gets delayed only have the airline deliver somewhere staffed
to receive a package (like an office/hotel) and with plenty of time for the
delivery to be made, or get it from the baggage office on the way out.

~~~
wgerard
You can plan around it, but that doesn't make it any less stressful
necessarily during an activity that's already of varying degrees of stressful
(traveling).

If I lose all my clothes in my luggage that isn't really a huge deal (I can
buy new clothes), but it certainly puts a major damper on the trip.

------
finnthehuman
This author is just now figuring out that checking bags is over-demonized and
that cloth duffles are dope?

This is some real rookie shit. So much so that I suspect flight tech has
passed me by and the people at the front are sharing outdated metagame
strategy with the masses.

~~~
siberianbear
I don't even get why everyone has these roller carry-ons. I have a soft-sided
backpack designed specifically for air travel. It always fits in the bin and
it's way faster to carry than something that rolls on the ground with wheels.
And ditching all the hard sides and wheels makes everything weigh less.

~~~
leetcrew
do you also bring a "personal item"? for me the backpack is my personal item,
so my carry on needs to be something convenient to carry while already wearing
a backpack.

~~~
alistairSH
I've taken to traveling with this[1] bag from Osprey. I typically put my
cameras and tablet in a separate small backpack, though for shorter trips all
my stuff will fit in the Osprey (just in case I get really unlucky with
overhead - I will not gate-check my electronics). For longer walks, I strap
the small backpack to the Osprey. For short walks, I wear the Osprey normally
and sling the other bag over a single shoulder.

1 -
[https://www.osprey.com/us/en/product/farpoint-40-FARPNT40_52...](https://www.osprey.com/us/en/product/farpoint-40-FARPNT40_526.html)

~~~
dpark
Can you stash/remove the hip belt while still comfortably using the shoulder
straps? The omnipresence of hip belts is one of the reasons I don't care for
carry-on backpacks (that and the fact that I'm normally wearing a small
backpack with laptop, headphones, snacks, anyway). I find the hip belt very
useful if I'm actually backpacking and otherwise really annoying.

~~~
lp251
no, but they lie close enough to flush against my back

~~~
dpark
Ok, thanks. I might take a look at some of Osprey's other bags. They seem to
have similar options without the hip belt in their "duffel" section.

~~~
alistairSH
Their duffels are nice, but be sure to check the dimensions. They tend to be
longer and narrower - while they'll probably squish into an overhead, they
aren't optimized for that usage.

~~~
dpark
Thanks for the heads up. I’ll be careful about that.

~~~
alistairSH
Check out Timbuk2's Never Check Duffel and Never Check Overnight Briefcase.
The duffel has backpack straps and looks like a good overhead bag. The
briefcase looks like it will fit in most under-seat areas. If I did more
business travel, I'd probably look closely at these, but right now, I'm only
flying 2x/year for work and 2-3x for pleasure.

~~~
dpark
Appreciate the suggestions. Will definitely take a look. I don’t fly a ton but
have been considering a proper backpack or duffel carry-on for a while.

------
jacques_chester
The causality is backwards. Larger hardcase roll-ons followed from checked
luggage being a paid extra, not the other way around.

The first time I flew in the US I thought there was something wrong with my
flight. It took 45 minutes to board and leave! But then it happened again. And
again. And again. And slowly it dawned on me that this is just what folks here
consider normal. Now we've gone from "you pay extra so you can board last" to
"you pay extra so you can board first". It's nuts.

~~~
namdnay
Well, the actual game is "you pay a bit extra to board first" or "you pay a
lot extra to board last". If you're in business or first (on a plane big
enough to have properly separated cabins of course), the big advantage of the
upper cabin classes is that you have your own luggage bin

~~~
nlawalker
_> "you pay a lot extra to board last"_

In my experience, the first- and business- class folks _always_ take advantage
of their ability to board first, because sitting in first class on the tarmac
is more comfortable than sitting in the airport terminal.

~~~
namdnay
I think it depends on the layout of the terminal. If the lounge is not too far
from the gate, it's more comfortable to just roll up last minute

------
solatic
If the airlines were smart, they'd consider doing away with the overhead bins
altogether. Those bins create a tragedy of the commons.

Bring a small backpack to be put under your seat that can carry your passport,
laptop, headphones, a book to read, etc., or nothing at all. Check the rest.
If the airlines do away with the overhead bins, then the first checked bag
should be free. If it takes too long to get the bags on a carousel one-by-one,
consider taking a leaf from the shipping industry and figure out some kind of
containerization system for passenger aircraft whereby suitcases are loaded
into containers before the aircraft gets to the gate, and the containers are
unloaded at the destination.

Caveat: I'm not a business traveler. But, if you travel for business so often
that you have status, then your checked bags are priority-marked and they're
the first ones on the carousel anyway. As a guy who most often travels
internationally and thus gets a free checked bag, even without status I never
seem to need to wait more than 5-10 minutes for my bag, even on international
flights where most travelers are checking bags.

~~~
lsllc
Since they started charging for checked bags, now everyone tries to carry on
as much as they can which results in slow boarding and getting off.

They _should_ be charging for overhead bin use and make checked bags be free
(along with small bags under the seat in front of you). This way most people
would go back to checking bags and only the business people or people willing
to pay would carry-on.

With planes being so overbooked these days I often carry my bag through
security (which slows that down!) but then gate check it for free (so the
airline is now losing the revenue).

~~~
solatic
The compromise position is probably to only have overhead bin space in premium
cabins, then the price of overhead bin space is folded into the premium
ticket.

Good point that carry-on bags probably also slows down security, and the
amount that it slows security down is probably not negligible. Without carry-
on suitcases, you could probably completely do away with the X-ray machines
(hand-check people's purses and backpacks), which are (anecdotally) probably
the biggest bottleneck at airport security.

~~~
arantius
Really? For me it's getting halfway undressed (no jacket, belt off, shoes on
the conveyor, empty your pockets) that takes the most time.

~~~
sokoloff
Get TSA Precheck and that nonsense goes away. Only heavy jackets need to come
off.

------
dhimes
My gripe is that there ought to be an assigned overhead compartment for every
individual seat. I get really annoyed when there's not enough room for my
carry-on and it becomes _my_ problem. It should be the airline's problem.

~~~
hjk05
As a European all the complaints In this thread sound completely foreign.
Whenever I fly, the stewards just help those who can’t find space at their
seat with their bags. It’s never an issue.

------
mmphosis
* Captive market of people sitting in the airplane shopping mall for hours.

* Extra charges for everything.

Compare airplane boarding with simply boarding a train in Switzerland /
Europe: You get on the train. If you miss the train, you get on the next one.
Air travel was like this a long time ago, and still is for short-haul flights,
and short-haul fleets are going all electric.

I think fast electric rail is here [in Europe and China/Japan/Korea] and is
the future. Hopefully flying will be reduced, but for now, airplane boarding
is ridiculous.

~~~
sokoloff
> short-haul fleets are going all electric.

There is literally not a single passenger service nor airline sized electric
airplane in the world. “are going” is significantly premature at a minimum.

~~~
mmphosis
I am talking about short-haul flights where boarding is almost as easy as
getting on the train.

[https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/10/scotlands-
orkney...](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/10/scotlands-orkney-
islands-may-see-electric-plane-service-by-2021/)

[https://www.harbourair.com/harbour-air-and-magnix-partner-
to...](https://www.harbourair.com/harbour-air-and-magnix-partner-to-build-
worlds-first-all-electric-airline/)

[http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180814-norways-plan-
for-a-...](http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180814-norways-plan-for-a-fleet-
of-electric-planes)

~~~
sokoloff
In round numbers, how many of those ultra-short-haul passenger flights are
flying electric today? I think the answer is a perfectly round number.

------
musicale
Southwest seems to board fairly quickly with unassigned seating.

But my favorite experience has been when they occasionally open both the front
and rear doors for fast exiting.

------
snug
CGP Grey did a video about this

[https://youtu.be/oAHbLRjF0vo](https://youtu.be/oAHbLRjF0vo)

------
guiltygods
This is why the assumption that market forces and competition will be
favorable to consumers is a sham. There is no counter to shameless greed which
is now directly impacting consumers who are actually paying more than earlier
but on a piecemeal basis.

------
exabrial
Still waiting for an airline to go 100% overhead bin free; something I think
Southwest should try on an experimental route. Backing this up with free bags
and adding an SLA for bag-to-claim (10m, depending on the airport) to give
people predictability.

