I fly quite a bit. From low-cost to high end carriers and from pick a spot to typically business class. However one thing that still puzzles me when boarding begins is why hordes of people queue up long before boarding even begins. Everyone is assigned a seat number and the number of over-bookings is typically low so your chances of being bumped from your flight are rather low as well. The most frequented position people take in terms of being on board first is storage space, especially during the winter periods, however there is always space for everyone and all their belongings, no? Its a phenomenon that still fascinates me. I manage to be one of the last people whenever boarding begins and my carry-ons have plenty of space.
Nonetheless, airlines usually opt for one of two systems: the much-feared free-for-all, or the yawn-some assigned seating. Researcher Dr Tie-Qiao Tang, however, claims there’s a third way:
[blockquote source=”Dr Tie-Qiao Tang”]Each passenger has their own individual properties. For example, each passenger’s luggage has a different attribution and thus has different influences on boarding behavior; the time that the passenger’s ticket is checked at the gate is different; the time that the passenger deals with his or her carried luggage is different; seat conflicts have different effects on the passenger. Each passenger has a different optimal speed, maximum speed and safe distance.[/blockquote]
Essentially what he’s claiming here is that airlines could, in theory at least, assign seat numbers based on data about their customers—their typical boarding speed, luggage they’re carrying, that kind of thing. In fact, during simulations his technique was the most efficient of the three, beating allocated seating by a mile and leaving the free-for-all, unsurprisingly, in a coughing heap somewhere in the distance.
Putting the theory into practice, though, is a tougher nut to crack—but not an impossible one. Airlines could easily work out how carry-on luggage correlates with boarding speed and just add an extra weigh-in to factor how it affects seat allocation, for instance, while walking speed could be guesstimated as a function of age. How well that would work, though, is another question entirely.
Add to the mix that it would mean that airlines would have to actively profile their customers—something many people wouldn’t be too happy with—and it has its fair share of problems. But let’s face it: it’s gotta be better than the current state of things.
What are things that you notice when travelling?
