

The best way to board an airplane - aak
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/the-best-way-to-board-an-airplane/2011/08/30/gIQAzIcbpJ_blog.html#pagebreak

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smoody
Personally, I would board people without carry-on luggage first (non-blocking
group) and then people who have a single bag that can fit underneath the seat
in-front-of-them, and then board people who require the use of overhead space.
I suspect it would make things a lot smoother and it would perhaps reduce the
size and number of bags people bring on board. Just a hunch.

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nathanb
It would be interesting to see how much of the time savings come from more
efficient boarding order versus just forcing people to all be lined up and
ready to go. If passengers can board faster but it takes an extra ten minutes
to get everyone in the right order, that's not a win.

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colanderman
It is if they can do it just before the plane's ready to board.

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pavel_lishin
> Continental will be soon begin boarding by seat position: first window
> seats, then middle, then aisle

That's great news - next time I fly Continental, I'll be sure to be the last
person in line, I love the aisle seat.

> In a forthcoming paper, Jason Steffen of the Fermilab Center for Particle
> Astrophysics, argues that the fastest way to board a plane is to have
> passengers line up beforehand in a very specific order. In Steffen’s chart
> (at right), passengers who will be seated far apart board the plane around
> the same time

This assumes that people can follow these kinds of directions quickly and
effectively, doesn't it?

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nathanb
> That's great news - next time I fly Continental, I'll be sure to be the last
> person in line, I love the aisle seat.

You don't get to choose your seat at boarding time. You are pre-assigned a
seat or pre-choose your seat (aisle, center, window) and then boarded based on
that seat you already have.

