Oct. 27--United Airlines this week is testing a revised boarding procedure at Gate B-8 aimed at reducing the time passengers spend standing in line before boarding at O'Hare International Airport.
Longer standing times were an unintended consequence of a change a couple of years ago to address the surge of passengers at the first boarding announcement -- or what uncharitable frequent fliers call "gate lice."
United added more boarding lanes in 2013, using five to draw boarders away from the jet-bridge door by giving them a place to stand.
That worked. But more lanes also encouraged boarders to rise earlier from their seats and stand in line long before they needed to, United spokesman Rahsaan Johnson said.
"Lanes encourage people to line up," Johnson said. "People who might otherwise be sitting comfortably suddenly were standing 15 or 20 minutes before departure."
Chicago-based United knows that boarding procedures are part logistics and part a study in human behavior.
"We never intended for the boarding lanes to force people to stand as they were waiting for departure, but if you had a handful of people who would stand up, others would follow," he said.
While United would not offer specifics or early results, the change involves using fewer boarding lanes but more and smaller boarding groups, Johnson said. The idea is a passenger in Group 7 would not feel compelled to stand during Group 2 boarding, especially if there was no lane for Group 7 to stand in.
"We're trying to address an area where customers have given us negative feedback," Johnson said.
United also is looking at evening the number of passengers in each group. Some flights popular with business travelers, such as Chicago to Newark or Chicago to San Francisco, might have half the aircraft boarding in the first two groups, because those business passengers tend to have elite frequent-flier status, Johnson said.
United and many other airlines are continually tinkering with boarding regimens, although Southwest Airlines is a notable exception. It doesn't assign seats, letting passengers work out for themselves where they want to sit after boarding in groups based on check-in time and fees paid to get to the front of the line.
Cutting boarding times -- and ultimately the turnaround times for aircraft -- can translate into more revenue for an airline, better on-time rates, fewer missed connections and higher customer satisfaction.
New United CEO Oscar Munoz, currently on medical leave after suffering a heart attack earlier this month, specifically mentioned United's complicated boarding procedure as something he wanted to improve.
Of course, driving some of the human-behavior aspect of boarding is passenger anxiety that airlines created.
Since the advent of checked-bag fees around 2008, more passengers use carry-on bags to avoid paying extra. Depending on the aircraft, those who board late are in danger of not finding space in the overhead bin for their carry-ons and must check them. Thus the desire to be near the front of the boarding line. Again, Southwest is an exception, being the only major airline not to charge for the first two checked bags.
Adding to boarding problems is that planes in the U.S. are generally fuller than they have ever been, and airlines, including United, have added rows to aircraft by using slimmer seats.
With its testing at O'Hare, United is not changing the types of passengers who get to board early. First-class, business class and elite-level frequent fliers board first, along with disabled passengers and uniformed military fliers, for example.
And for general boarding, United is not changing how it fills the cabin. The pattern is still basically from outside the cabin to inside, or what's called WilMA, for windows, middles and aisles.
gkarp@tribpub.com
