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Ameircan Airlines’ test helps enforce boarding groups

Vaseline October 24, 2024

American Airlines is testing a new boarding system to ensure passengers board in assigned groups.
The system is currently being tested in Albuquerque and Tucson and will soon be expanded to more airports.
American Airlines says it is pleased with the results of the trial so far.

Travelers have proven for years that the honor system doesn’t make for an orderly plane boarding process, so now American Airlines is testing a way to ensure people actually board with their assigned group.

A Reddit user posted earlier this week that he was flying out of Albuquerque, New Mexico, when he noticed something different.

“As usual, Group 1 was swamped with people, but several people before me got an error message when they tried to scan their boarding pass,” the post said. “The gate agent then told them ‘sir/mom, you are group 5, please step aside’. It was great to see this was enforced and it appeared it was system controlled, with the gate agent having to make the call.”

American Airlines confirmed to USA TODAY that it is in fact testing a new boarding enforcement system.

“We are in the early stages of testing new technology used during the boarding process. The new technology is designed to ensure customers easily receive the benefits of priority boarding and helps improve the boarding experience by giving our team greater visibility into boarding progress,” an airline spokesperson said in a statement.

The trial has been active for a few weeks in Albuquerque and Tucson, Arizona. The airline plans to expand to more airports soon, including Washington Reagan National Airport, American said.

Is boarding an airplane efficient?

Airlines try to keep boarding as efficient as possible because the more time their planes spend on the ground, the less money they make. However, experts have proven time and time again that aircraft boarding is still quite inefficient, despite the best efforts of airlines.

Despite popular belief, back-to-front boarding is not the most efficient method. Based on computer models, the most efficient possible boarding on an airplane is known as the Steffen method, which involves six boarding groups separated by seat location. However, even the inventor doesn’t think it’s a reasonable way to board a plane in real life.

“It’s not necessarily easy to implement. “It wasn’t about whether it was easy or not, the question I was going for was: what’s the fastest,” astrophysicist Jason Steffen, now an associate professor of physics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, previously told USA TODAY. “There are some challenges in implementing my method. Everyone has to line up in a certain order. That is a solvable problem, but it is a solvable problem that comes with costs.”

The next best option, he said, is random boarding.

But travelers probably wouldn’t like that method either. People seem to prefer some structure, but often also want to get access to the overhead bins as early as possible.

Time will tell whether American’s new system helps keep boarding more orderly and satisfying for passengers, but the airline spokesperson said the company is pleased with the results so far.

(This story has been updated to correct a spelling error/typo.)

Zach Wichter is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in New York. You can reach him at [email protected].