Posted on 08/06/2007 1:26:25 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SAN ANTONIO - Families with young children are usually invited to board their flights first, along with other special needs passengers.
But what if families with children weren't among the first to board? Might the process go more smoothly?
While it might sound counterintuitive, it's something Southwest Airlines has been experimenting with on flights from San Antonio.
"The major goal is to try to give a better customer experience for boarding," said Susie Boersma, manager for airport performance improvement.
The airline's effort to improve the boarding process comes at a time when the entire airline industry is struggling with increased delays, cancellations and passenger complaints about deterioriations in service. Several high-profile incidents in the past year have involved traveling families, most recently a woman who was escorted off a plane because her toddler kept saying "Bye-bye plane!"
Southwest, a Dallas-based discount carrier, is famous for its unassigned seating, which some have dubbed the "cattle call."
In each of the scenarios the airline has been trying, families were invited to board after the "A" group. Passengers in the "A" group are typically those who arrive early or who checked in online beforehand.
In one scenario, a few rows of seats were set aside on the plane for flight attendants to use if a family couldn't find seats together. In the other scenario, no seats were reserved.
In either case, families who had already obtained an "A" pass could sidestep the experiment of boarding later and board with the "A" group if they wanted to.
But some traveling families said they'd be happy to give up the privilege of boarding first, if it made the process easier.
"I'd be willing to go after the 'A' group," said Christine Smith, 34, who traveled on a test flight from San Antonio to Dallas last week with her 6-year-old son, Tanner.
Aimee Flanagan, 34, who was on Smith's flight with her husband and three children, said she wouldn't mind boarding after the "A" group, because it might reduce the pressure to get settled while a long and impatient line of people wait behind her.
When families board first, "there's no time to get situated. You have to be in the aisles," she said. "And the kids are over here and you still haven't figured out where to sit."
The day after her test flight, Flanagan said that boarding after the "A" group worked out just fine. Fewer seats were available, but her family was still able to sit together. She still felt the pressure to get seated quickly, though, as others boarded after her.
Southwest officials stress that they are not trying to separate business travelers from families. But some passengers say that's exactly what they'd like to see.
"If you have X amount of families, however many people who are in families, have X seats sectioned off," said Flanagan. She said doing that would keep everyone happy, including all the annoyed travelers she's seen giving families dirty looks.
It's also possible that Southwest may not change anything and continue to pre-board as usual, the company said.
Dallas-area architects Dan Henke and Fred Cawyer, who travel Southwest once or twice a month, are happy to have family pre-boarding continue as usual, even if that means a longer wait and fewer available seats. "I think I like letting them board first," Henke said. "Then I don't have to sit next to them."
They'd also support separate sections for business and family passengers.
"These flights are so short, I can tolerate it," Cawyer said of sitting next to a crying child for the less-than-one-hour hop from San Antonio to Dallas. "If it's going to Pittsburgh, shoot me."
In addition to the "Bye-bye plane!" case, other incidents involving families in the past year include a family taken off a flight when their child threw a tantrum and refused to wear a seat belt, and protests held nationwide in support of a nursing mother who was ordered off a plane because she wouldn't cover up.
Makes me glad I don’t fly.
The problem is that many people check their brains when they check their baggage. You see these people walking down the isle and cannot figure out how the seats are numbered and that big bags cannot fit in storage unit.
Engage Brain - then Check Baggage...
That's not true. She was nursing under a blanket and the flght attendant still didn't like it.
As for the other stuff I never really thought of it but it makes sense. Let everyone board and then let the kids board with their parents.
I’m very happy to now only fly on rare occasions. It was a major part of my job for several years, and i really hated it. I never noticed the family thing being a problem, though, rowdy teenagers with way loud headphones were worse.
This isn't going to work with SWA's normal high load factor and no assigned seats. The flight attendants are going to eat up all their time that they saved having to reseat passengers to accommodate families. The airport is already family unfriendly enough without having to have your kids sitting by themselves next to a stranger.
I hate every second of it. If I never flew again it wouldn’t bother me one whit. It would bother my bf, though...he LOVES flying.
Hopefully, the 90 min. flight that turned into an eight-hour ordeal this summer will be my last flight. Never again.
I don’t care who boards first.
I just wish the stewardesses would stop using the non-word “pre-boarding.”
You are KIDDING me.
Except I guess you aren’t.
Ugh.
Thank God that never happened to me. I can’t blame you.
Flight delays at worst level in 13 years
ap on yahooooooo
snip
For June, U.S. airlines' on-time arrival rate was just above 68 percent, compared with roughly 73 percent a year earlier, according to Department of Transportation data. So far in 2007, nearly 25 percent of flights on the 20 largest carriers have arrived late, the agency said.
Travelers on Skywest Inc.'s Atlantic Southeast Airlines, a regional carrier for Delta Air Lines Inc., had it worst in June, as about 56 percent of flights arrived on time. AMR Corp.'s American Airlines was barely better, with an on-time arrival rate of about 58 percent. US Airways Group Inc., had an on-time rate of about 62 percent.
The airline industry blames the increased delays on a lack of a modern satellite-based air traffic control system, combined with increasing demand.
I hate Southwest because of their cattle-call boarding. Nevertheless, I’ll fly them if they’re the only non-stop to where I’m flying, or if they’re significantly cheaper than anyone else.
In that same vein, I get upgraded to First often. I hate sitting up there getting dirty looks from tourists passing by for ---- as I subsidize their coach ticket with my full fare business one.
I never understood why airlines always let old ladies, handicapped and people with children board first. All this does is gum up the works for the people behind them.
If I can drive to the destination in under 12 hours, I never fly (unless the job forces me to). I like driving.
I prefer the tots board first, then I know where not to sit.
maybe SWA has it wrong....maybe all those people with "dissabilities" along with their tagalongs should board last, so as to make the process much smoother...
I love traveling on SWA but not because of their boarding system.....you have to be quick to get an "A" card but then you have to wait personally in line to actually get a good seat...
of course there's several ways that people "wait" in line...some just stand or plump down on the floor, others try leaving their luggage there in line to hold a space...
in reality, you still have people trying to cram in the front of the line......
I have no idea how the "B" and "C" people do it....
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