[esselle]

Isn’t the problem the fact that every carrier has a different approach? For pax who are not familiar with the policy of one airline vs another, the result is uncertainty and confusion. The fact that even the same carrier does not consistently apply its own policy only makes things worse.

It sounds like the LGW experiment has been thought up by the airport management; faster turn around means better gate utilisation so it is in their interest to make it work. They would need the agreement of the carrier, and so I imagine they will be carrying out tests with one or more to see if it makes a difference. I do agree, though, that cabin baggage is the bigger problem.

[canucklad]

Firstly, this is nothing new, I’m sure United or some other UIS carrier trialled this method of boarding years ago ……. And I might be wrong, but have since abandoned it as unworkable.

Secondly, and we’ve chatted about this umpteen times on the forum , it ultimately comes down to a very simple common denominator …….
A sense of self entitlement , a belief that they have a right to unlimited space within a space limited environment is at the root of the problem.

And it’s compounded by the airlines own policies …. BA, for example …” as long as you can lift the bag unaided “ is so open to interpretation it almost encourages people to extract the Michael. Plus as I said earlier, that HBO fare to HKG on a A380 also includes a leg on a A320 !!. And could have had a codeshare on FlyBE !!

[Cedric_Statherby]

The irony is that the main reason First and Business passengers are boarded first is not because they want to settle into their seat ahead of the hoi polloi (and then experience the great unwashed pushing past them and elbowing them in the face), but because that is the best, sometimes the only, way to ensure there is some space in the overhead lockers.

IF airlines policed hand baggage properly then there would certainly be space for business class passengers’ hand luggage. And IF there was a guarantee of space for their hand luggage, business class passengers (at the front of the plane) would be happy to board last – time efficient for them (and a lot more comfortable), and time efficient for the airline to board the back rows first and allow the often less experienced passengers to settle.

I too have flown on Australian domestic flights and yes the gate dragons do fully enforce the baggage rules. They are REALLY strict, there is no getting round it with “do you know who I am” … and as a result there is always room in the overhead lockers and boarding times are extremely swift.

I have asked numerous executives of European airlines – LCC and legacy – why they are so indifferent/incompetent and I have never once got close to a coherent answer. The closest I have got is an admission (from Lufthansa) that enforcing their hand baggage rules would require having their own senior staff with authority at the gate – every gate – not contract staff/junior staff/airport staff. And it appears they don’t think the problem warrants the extra cost.

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canucklad, Swissdiver, cwoodward, DerekVH, MartynSinclair

[traveldoc1]

The irony is that passengers in First and Business often have considerably LESS cabin baggage than those in Economy, many of whom seem to be completely averse to checking anything in. Gate staff could and SHOULD prevent passengers boarding who have very clearly got a cabin case and about 6 pieces of ancillary baggage, which they presumably have hidden from the check-in staff.

[MartynSinclair]

The only airport I use where BA gate staff (in this case contract staff) are 100% consistent with enforcing cabin baggage rules is AMS. Even the DYKWIA brigade generally don’t bother arguing….

Pity this sort of exercise is not trialled to speed up boarding at Heathrow or Gatwick

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DerekVH

[IanFromHKG]

Given that premium cabins are at the front of the aircraft, and are entitled to board first, perhaps everyone shuuld be boarded from the back??

It would make it a lot easier to do the pre-departure drinks too 🙂

[canucklad]

[quote quote=979158]It would make it a lot easier to do the pre-departure drinks too 🙂[/quote]

I’m quite convinced airlines enjoy pushing “goat class ” passengers through their premium cabins , on the off chance that one of us herders will find the cash somehow to upgrade on future flights …………A sort of “look at what you could have had , you cheapskate” marketing policy .
And watching Ian & his fellow hoi poloiers sipping France’s finest bubbly only rubs salt into the wound : )

Ian — how did you manage your emoji by the way ?

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Woodpecker

[IanFromHKG]

canucklad, I have an entire IT and PR support team to manage my emojis. Although on that occasion, I just did colon dash close-bracket 🙂

[TominScotland]

🙂

[LuganoPirate]

Swiss/Lufthansa/Austrian are now implementing this, but what a nonsense! First off there were six people in front of me for the priority boarding, 4 were sent back as they were in the wrong queue and delayed matters further by arguing about it. Fair enough that could also happen before I guess. However, when they started to board in waves, boarding took forever, as they waited for everyone to be seated before calling the next group. Consequently we were 25 minutes late pushing back. I hope they go back to the old system.

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Swissdiver

[MartynSinclair]

[quote quote=979470]However, when they started to board in waves, boarding took forever, as they waited for everyone to be seated before calling the next group.[/quote]

The Kindergarten boarding process….

[Author]

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