Question: Don't you think it is strange that airplanes are still designed to be boarded from the front? And that airlines board the passengers starting with those sitting in the front rows?
_ Gary Kazanjian
Hermosa Beach, Calif.
Answer: Don't I think it's strange? That's such a wonderful straight line I can hardly contain myself.
But, no, it's not all that strange, at least not when you consider everything that's in play.
In fact, it's almost a bit Shakespearean. Every boarding has drama (will someone sit in the middle seat in my row?), tension (room for my carry-on?), anger (stuck in middle seat), sorrow (stuck in middle seat by the restroom), joy (open seat in my row) and happiness (don't have to do this again for another (fill in the blank until next trip)).
Because for the most part, boarding is a scrum, which Webster's New World College Dictionary, fifth edition, describes as "a disorderly group of people crowded together often in pursuit of a person or thing."
The "thing," in this case, is a seat.
The issues are both in the boarding phase and in the moving-through-the-cabin phase. Here are some of the obstacles between you and that plain vanilla coach seat, which is where most of us fly.
