NEW BOARDING Process

[jenny@nw]

I know everyone on this board is overly cynical about everything coming out of airline management, and you all think you could run the airline much better if only given the chance.

Certainly it's a fine tuned machine right now.

 

[Don Smith]

....I know everyone on this board is overly cynical about everything coming out of airline management, and you all think you could run the airline much better if only given the chance....

And just how exactly does running an airline into the ground and displacing thousands of employees qualify as "management"?

 

[jenny@nw]

And just how exactly does running an airline into the ground and displacing thousands of employees qualify as "management"?

complete mismanagement.

 

[jenny@nw]

Southwest exploring assigned seating
By Mark Skertic
Tribune staff reporter
Published May 18, 2006


Southwest Airlines soon could end first-come, first-served seating, which helped define the carrier's no-frills culture, in favor of assigned seating.

"It is a departure from our more traditional thinking, but something we've been looking at seriously," said spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger. "We've not decided at this point to do assigned seating, but we'd like to have the capability to do so in the future."

The airline is incorporating reserved seating in a reservation technology upgrade, but there is no timeline for implementing an assigned-seating system, she said.

While most commercial carriers assign passengers a seat when they make a reservation or check in, Southwest has long avoided that practice. Waiting for people to get to their assigned seat slows the boarding process, anathema to an airline that has built its success on quickly loading planes and departing.

But the practice also has been criticized by some travelers who want the certainty of knowing they will have an aisle or window seat, or that several family members will be assured of sitting together.

The discount carrier is the dominant airline at Midway International Airport. It is also the nation's most successful financially, as it is the only one to consistently make a profit in recent years.

The lack of guaranteed seats has not been an issue for Southwest in Chicago. But Frontier Airlines, Southwest's primary competitor in Denver, has hit on the issue in ads in that market.

In one radio spot, the sound of mooing is heard while one of Frontier's mascots says, "Some airlines have you line up and clamor aboard like cows." Another replies, "Geesh, it looks like the running of the bulls."

Some airlines have tried to turn assigned seating into a revenue generator. Northwest Airlines this year began charging $15 extra to reserve an exit row or some aisle seats. Passengers who want the extra legroom are willing to pay the extra fee.

Southwest, in contrast, issues an "A" boarding pass to the first passengers who check in, with those following getting "B" and "C" passes. Customers board in that order, choosing the seat they want.

Southwest's research has found that some customers like the open-seating policy, while some would prefer a system that assigns seats, Eichinger said.

The airline needs to offer assigned seating to stay competitive, said Michael Boyd, a Colorado-based aviation consultant.

"They have to change now," Boyd said. "Twenty-five years ago maybe it didn't matter, but today people are not going to tolerate going transcontinental when they don't know if they have a seat assignment or not.

"If you're commuting to Lubbock from Dallas, fine," he said. "But if you're going from Baltimore to Oakland, then it's not fine."

Southwest's willingness to consider dropping a policy that has been part of the carrier's culture since its founding in the early 1970s may signal other changes, said New York-based commercial aviation consultant Robert Mann.

"It shows once again how [Chief Executive] Gary Kelly is looking outside the bounds of what was considered the sacrosanct keep-it-simple cocoon," he said.

He and Boyd said it is likely Southwest eventually will consider adding another type of aircraft to its fleet. The carrier now flies only Boeing 737s, which seat 137. While some markets are too small to serve with that size aircraft, those same cities could be profitable if Southwest flew a 100-seat plane, Boyd said.

Such aircraft could be profitable serving small Midwestern airports to a medium-size city like St. Louis, Boyd said.

One of Southwest's discount competitors, JetBlue Airways, recently followed such a strategy on the East Coast. JetBlue added Embraer 190 planes to its fleet. The new planes have been exceeding revenue projections, the carrier said recently.

 

[coolflyingfool]

The all aboard at once thing works really great when the first person on is in row 4 and takes 2 minutes to store their bags overhead and get out of the aisle. HEAVY sarcasm.

 

[jenny@nw]

The all aboard at once thing works really great when the first person on is in row 4 and takes 2 minutes to store their bags overhead and get out of the aisle. HEAVY sarcasm.

heavy sarcasm nuthin'. It's REALITY. :down:

 

[robbedagain]

The all aboard at once thing works really great when the first person on is in row 4 and takes 2 minutes to store their bags overhead and get out of the aisle. HEAVY sarcasm.

Wow! it takes about 4 min for the herd of people to sit down on our crjs in the 2p hour! aand it is amazing the size of the carryons they bring--some of which appear to be a look alike of a checked bag

 

[PurduePete]

Here's an article that shows how "well" NWA's new boarding procedure is going:

(hope that the link works...)

An excerpt from the article:

And now for a word on the boarding process. Most airlines have some system or other that seems to work well enough, so there is not much to harp on here. However, a recent chaotic experience with Northwest Airlines compels me to say something.

On a NWA flight from Denver (on a 757 aircraft, which is a relatively large plane) after all the folks with silver, gold, platinum and so on reward cards had boarded the jet, the representative called for "general boarding."

No, she didn't call passengers by seat number or zone number or by some other rational means. She just summoned all of the passengers on to the plane.

This resulted in a nightmarish herd of people storming the boarding area all at once, creating a logjam in the jetway and total disorder on the plane itself.

As fate would have it, most of the people who boarded first were seated toward the front, so by the time the folks in the rear of the aircraft got on, most of the overhead bins were filled.

Thus, a handful of passengers were trapped in the back of the plane, with large pieces of carry-on luggage that they had nowhere to stow. It was not the most impressive boarding technique I had ever seen.

Way to go NWA!

 

[PlayTheOdds]

...Thus, a handful of passengers were trapped in the back of the plane, with large pieces of carry-on luggage that they had nowhere to stow. It was not the most impressive boarding technique I had ever seen.

This is every day damn near on every flight. Even when there is a gate agent on the jetway tagging bags to carry down the Pax's insist their bags will fit under the seat or are certain they will find a place in the overhead. End result there is always bags being brought back from the rear of the aircraft to be carried down to the cargo holds? I say get rid of the overheads all together. Certainly you don’t think this problem is limited to NWA?

 

[Don Smith]

The fact is that with 85% load factors (as reported in many news articles),There just isn't room for the traditional carry-on. You know the ones the size of a footlocker with wheels. Strick enforcement by the gate agents using the size guide (located at every gate) will ensure adequate space. As to the passengers loading in the front bins...Well F/As...step up to the plate and keep em' straight.

 

[jenny@nw]

The fact is that with 85% load factors (as reported in many news articles),There just isn't room for the traditional carry-on. You know the ones the size of a footlocker with wheels. Strick enforcement by the gate agents using the size guide (located at every gate) will ensure adequate space. As to the passengers loading in the front bins...Well F/As...step up to the plate and keep em' straight.

how come when you use to go to the website for tix, they usually stated it was 60% on time. I don't see it anymore.