Astrophysicist shows why it takes so long to board a plane

Hello! Just want to say thank you for this interesting article! =) Peace, Joy.

hi there - is it just me !! can any one explain why when i type in the yahoo browser "www.wbez.org" i get a different site yet whe i type it in google its ok? could this be a bug in my system or is any one else having same probs ?
sadensy

side effects of alendronate

Proof positive that the airline industry, long known for being the "paragon of operational efficiency", is perfectly adept at, pardon me Sir Winston, "Doing the right thing, only after having tried all of the wrong things".

There's a lot of talk in the comments here about families boarding at different times. I tend to think that if we were boarding by seat position, a child should be able to board with their parent, In other words, TPTB can be flexible just like a father can take his daughter into the men's room.

But taking children out of the picture, what does it matter if a couple (or a sports team or business colleagues) have to board at a different time. Are people really suggesting that they can't be separated from each other for ten minutes while the person with the window seat boards. The real problem seems to be entitlement.

Southwest ran these studies years ago, with real people rather than simulations, and retained their take-any-seat policy because it was most efficient. And they turn planes in 30 minutes blocks-on to blocks-off -- an "extra 20 or thirty minutes" is huge to them.

BTW, nobody who knows what they're doing uses Poisson arrivals in simulations, for the simple reason that Poisson models nothing in the real world. It was used before fast computation because it made the math tractable. Wrong, but tractable.

As far as I know Southwest Airlines has been boarding randomly for years.

Perhaps Fermilab astrophysisists should spend their time modeling our economy to find a good deleveraging solution, rather than validate the results of private research with public money.

I modeled the boarding of airplanes for the Mathematically Competition in Modeling in Spring 2007 and we found the same results, but we competed in this competion as undergrads rather than grad students and it only took us 3 days to solve. :P Can I get on the news now?

When boarding a domestic flight within China about 5 years ago, the boarding was random, not by row numbers, and it was quick and painless, which I found quite surprising at the time. The results of this study therefore don't surprise me.

Here's an idea...actually use the box that says "your bag must fit here or be smaller to take on board"...the airlines are fricken idiots when coming to "not" enforcing their own rule...everyone has seen someone with a bag that is completely rediculous...How about NO bags carried on larger than a laptop for business, movies, or games?

OR, they could board the back rows through the back doors, the middle rows through the middle doors, and the front rows through the front doors. Every plane has at least six doors.

Anyone who ever deplaned through the back doors to the tarmac at LaGuardia can tell you it would improve the process tenfold.

Everyone says "check your bags"...

Every time I've gone on a trip where I've had to change planes and checked a bag... it missed the transfer and I lost my bag for a day (or more).

Or, if I'm unlucky enough to have missed a transfer... sometimes my bag won't miss the transfer.

I too am a scientist, modeled this problem, and have a solution. However, it is only valid for spherical cows in a vacuum! (But that is eerily similar to what is actually going on)

I have another (probably not-so-novel) idea: Folks with carry-on luggage board according to the "all at once" model...but only AFTER folks *without any* carry-on luggage are comfortably seated. :)

Try (not necessarily in this order) all families, all couples, and all individuals. You can hardly insist on breaking up families flying together when boarding the plane.

If airlines really wanted to board a plane faster they would've kept checked baggage free and started charging for carry-on. It's ridiculous.

Rummaging through various memories of past flights, I don't personally identify "slowness in boarding" as a time, money, or inconvenience factor to passengers or airline. If they improve speed in boarding, all it will do is lengthen the time you are seated and ready to go, on the air strip, waiting for the tower to let you take off. The true horrors of airline flight are when you are trapped on a plane, motionless, for HOURS...

I wish the astrophysicist would work on developing a transporter, a la Star Trek. If you sent people to the destination one at a time, you could cut out security and still get everyone there in less time than it takes to board and take off.:)

Better yet. Eliminate overhead bins, check all bags and eliminate carry on security checks and then finally improve checked baggage handling.

I fly Southwest Airlines for 90% of my business travel. People still struggle to grasp the 'line up by boarding pass sequence number' concept. But, for those of us who travel a lot...and carry on out bags most of the time...we have learned to check in as soon as the 24-hour window opens. That way we get on first and are more likely to have bin space. Of course, since Southwest has no baggage fees, there may be somewhat less bin-stuffing. But every time I travel on other airlines, it amazes me how much longer it takes to fill a plane, even smaller ones that a 737. For a final snark, I wish all Continental passengers well. Now that United has swallowed your airline, you should be prepared for having the door shut in your face when your connection is late. I spent a miserable day and a half in Dulles after watching the door shut as I sprinted from customs through the crowds. Three cheers for Southwest. I hope the merger with Air Tran does not grow you beyond your customer-friendly business model.

Appearently neither the astrophysicist of the article author have flown Southwest Airlines.

Obvious solution: If your carry-on is oversized, you get to go back to ticketing and check it and hope there's room for you on the next flight.

It doesn't take an astrophysicist to tell you that the whole problem is that people are idiots.

He obviously didn't consider the rate of change of check in molestation with respect to time when he calculated this...

now they can charge us $25 more to use a random boarding method option.

Geez, gimme a break. Airlines won't listen to anything logical. You might as well tell them to hire smurfs to be porters for everyone's luggage. They might listen to that...

As Mr. Steffen points out the entire problem is the airlines greedy trick of charging for putting a bag in the luggage hold of the aircraft. They figure that you won't notice that your round trip just cost $50 more per person if they do this because you can always use the overhead bin. And every case in the overhead exceeds the maximum dimension that the airline allows (wink wink). The difficulty is that this extra fee is keeping many airlines in business.

But, like Mr. Steffen, I wonder how much it costs the airport and the airline to have that gate occupied for 20%(?) more time, with millions of employees hanging around waiting for grandma Anna try to stuggle a 50 pound suitcase (that she said would fit under her seat) into a crowded overhead. Forget the medical claims as that 50 pounds comes crashing down on the seated passenger when it is retrieved. It looks to me as though they could handle maybe 5 more flights a day and pay the airport billions less for gate space if they just had folks walk on and off the plane in a minute or two.

And ... those bins were designed to hold an outer coat or suit coat -- yeah, ever try putting a suitcoat into an overhead -- the next guy behind you is going to crush it into a wrinkled ball with his 50 pound wheeled "carry-on" unless you retrieve it. And you get to walk into your meeting looking like they just pried a bottle of cheap wine from your fingers and you slept in your clothing all night outside the building.

Hey government, want to meddle in business in a useful way -- ban any fees on luggage and make the airlines enforce the rules on cabin carry-on sizes. You'll let the airlines make some real money and let passengers travel like something other than animals again.

This is basic waiting line modeling, which operations managers do every single day. You use either a Poisson or a random distribution. I'll bet this astrophysicist a trillion dollars that airlines do model the best ways to board their planes. Why that modeling hasn't led to a better system is anyone's guess.

I too do modelling, and while not an astophysicist my PhD was in rocket science (O rings!). A study like this should really be vetted by an expert in studies of. humans... I'm not sure of ArXiv's policy, but if he didn't go through a human subjects review board I wouldn't publish it as science.

So, a family should be broken up during boarding so that the one by the window goes first? Yeah, that'll work...

if this works and the airlines follow suit this guy should be paid millions.

steffen correctly identified the overhead bins as the biggest source of delay, exacerbated since luggage charges have encouraged carry on to the limit. What about leaving the bins closed and letting on everyone who agrees to stay contained to their seat and under area. Then let the bin users on. This would also keep people from blocking the bins with small items that should be under the seat.

I rarely have the feeling that boarding duration is the real constraint on takeoff time. Almost every time I fly, it's something else: Late equipment arrival, airport congestion, missing crew, weather delays, you name it. Still, this is a cool study. The way airlines board their planes is an offence to reason.

The biggest problem remains the same, carry on luggage. This is a situation completely of the airlines
own making. By charging an outrageous price of $25 per checked bag, more and more people try and
carry everything onto the plane. The overhead bins were never designed for this type of use. I have seen
near fist fights over bin space. Not to mention clogged aisles as people try and cram in suitcases and
backpacks that obviously don't fit. Sharp flyers who are seated in the back of the plane put their stuff
in the first available space, leaving no room for those who board later. It's completely out of control
and flight attendants ( understandably ) don't want to get involved as their presence only makes
the aisles more crowded. Travel is not what it used to be and then some.

Most airlines are using the "3 Zone" method, but dont do it properly. If there is 150 passengers on a plane, they should be divided equally (50-50-50) across zones as randomly as possible, with varying seats/rows. Tickets purchased together would (ie: a family with child) would still have to be taken into account. Most times it seems like Zone 1 and Zone 2 is just a handful of passengers, then Zone 3 becomes "everyone else". I also agree that the carry-on baggage slows it down, especially on the smaller regional jets. To save money people are carrying on several bags and half their wardrobe, but then still end up having to check the bag plane side when it cant fit in the bin. Maybe limit carryons to small soft sided bags only. No roller bags/suitcases that cant squeeze under a seat, etc.

So we should allow people to rush and push past each other? That would be more helpful in boarding? I can see this working on the huge huge planes with two walking rows, but not the single row planes. There are many factors and missing realities here. Obviously, it is totally disregarding the fact that first class at the front boards FIRST. And if person A sits in row 13 and person B who sits in row 26 boards next then person A will have to hear them huffing and puffing down their back until they either sit down or move out of their way. DOESN'T MAKE SENSE! If you want to make boarding an issue and "fix" time a bit more by saying a wider open time window like the doctors do. The appt is at 1:30pm and you are told to be there at 2 pm. You never knew and you don't have a thing to complain about when they see you at 2 although in their books they had your appt to be at 1:30pm. Time is just something people like to spend as quick as money.

This is the problem with astrophysicists, they think a people business can be reduced to the ideal gas law.
The airlines board frequent fliers first so they don't have to put their luggage under their feet, unlike the fly-once crowd. Where as the proposed "solution" is to alienate the best customers and send them and their full fares to the competitor airline. Steffen’s own design: boarding alternating rows at the same time, starting with the window seats -- a real winner for cheap seats, why would I ever pay full fare again?

If the airlines want to try this, it shouldn't be too hard to code boarding tickets with the groups each person should be in. They'd say, "Now boarding group B" rather than "Now boarding everyone with seats 13 through 20."

And airlines could save a lot of money if they could board and take off more quickly.

After flying professionally for the last 13 years this concept could never work on a premium airline. Firstly there are boarding cards to be checked, part of the experience is being greeted at the door of the aircraft instead of a stampede rushing for seats and flatening everything... Then you have premium cabin passengers who can board first and in an orderly manner without being pushed all the way down the jetty. I can see it working on a cheap low cost airline but never on a premium airline. An extra 20 to 30 mins isn't going to affect the operating cost in such a way that it would paramount to do such a kind of boarding. I personally couldnt think of anything worse than boarding in these circumstances. We cant forget some people have never been on a plane before and it is confusing and stressful as it is for them without being flattened in the process by others. There are always going to be selfish and inconsiderate people who will take their time regardless and there will always be thick people that are just plain thick so I think we just have to live with it...

I think they should make it clearer which seats are which. The seat letters and numbers should be written in giant letters on each seat. If it said "17B" on the back of a seat, picking the wrong seat would be far less likely. Even if they just said the numbers or the letters it'd be easier.

They could also try changing the colors. Making every other row a diiferent color. Odd numbered rows black even numbered rows white. Then announce that all black/odd rows are being boarded. Noone will choose a white row!

Ryanair, the European low fare airline, already boards passengers all at once with free seating. (Well, passengers can chose to pay a supplement to board first, but after that small group has boarded it's a free-for-all) Ryanair is all about the fastest possible turn-around, so I assume they already know it's the fastest way to board the cattle... eh, I mean the 'passengers'.

Hey there

Not disputing the results of the trial, but I travel on planes often, and there are at lease a couple of reasons why the 'window first' methods will struggle getting acceptance.

* A lot of people travel in groups - e.g. families, business colleagues etc. How do they fit into this system? Do you make them board separately? If so, how do you handle children etc.?

* It is extremely rare for all passengers to be at the gates when boarding starts - how does the model work when some of the late comers are window seat passengers?

There will always be the person with oversized luggage who is sure that if they can just find the right angle they will be able to get their full size case into the overhead bins, or the sports team all wanting to sit together...

If you could remove allocated seating entirely the alternate row from the back thing might work - but I don't see that premium customers will want to give up their 'first to board' rights or seat selections.

In my opinion the biggest improvement that could be done to improve things in the US is to stop the carry on of luggage (which has been made worse now that most airlines are charging for even the first bag). Most other countries limit carry on to a single small item (e.g. laptop bag or handbag) and this reduces the time taken for people to put luggage into overhead bins, and gets them out of the aisle faster.

This assumes travelers are adults. Families with children would have to be accomodated differently. Personally I think the best strategy would be to eliminate "priority boarding" and enforce the carry on size policies. I stopped carrying on baggage 5 years ago because it was too stressful. As much as waiting at the bag carousel seemed like a hassle, I felt relaxed getting on and off the plane - totally worth it.
One of the most annoying things I've experienced since bag-check fees came into play are passengers who intentionally bring their huge suitcases as carry ons, because they know there will be an offer to gate check the bags for free when the flight is full.

Okay, if I've got this right, the loading sequence is:

• LH Side -- Odd-numbered Rows -- Window Seats
• RH Side -- Odd-numbered Rows -- Window Seats
• LH Side -- Odd-numbered Rows -- Middle Seats
• RH Side -- Odd-numbered Rows -- Middle Seats
• LH Side -- Odd-numbered Rows -- Aisle Seats
• RH Side -- Odd-numbered Rows -- Aisle Seats
• LH Side -- Even-numbered Rows -- Window Seats
• RH Side -- Even-numbered Rows -- Window Seats
• LH Side -- Even-numbered Rows -- Middle Seats
• RH Side -- Even-numbered Rows -- Middle Seats
• LH Side -- Even-numbered Rows -- Aisle Seats
• RH Side -- Even-numbered Rows -- Aisle Seats

In the real world, airlines have enough trouble getting passengers to grasp concepts like 'Rows X through Y' or 'Zone A' when they're printed right on their tickets.

Maybe if Sheldon on 'Big Bang Theory' ran an airline...

Since carry-on luggage tends to be the cause, wouldn't it make more sense to incentivize checking bags rather than penalizing people? If people could check bags for free, and only carry-on laptop or smaller bags, then I would expect boarding times to significantly decrease.

Southwest has the fastest boarding time of any airline in the industry, by far. How? No assigned seating. Sit where you want. folks are split into 3 groups, randomly, and the entire group boards at once. easy to understand, and easy to implement. did you study that method?

In 1994 I visited China on vacation. One night we flew a China Air 747 from Shanghai to Beijing. There were no assigned seats, but boarding went smoothly. The remarkable thing that happened was when we landed. The landing went smoothly, but what followed was quite a sight. In the U.S. as in most places I've been most people pretty much stay in their seats until the plane reaches the terminal. Well, not these people. As soon as the plane touched ground people were getting out of their seats and moving towards the exits. I've never seen such a mad rush on a moving 747.