Opinion

LETTER: A better way to board airplanes

To the Editor:

We all know that boarding airplanes takes way too much time. The typical system creates a blockage in the aisle, causing a line in the jet bridge.

One of the main reasons for this is people bringing carry-ons. Because the airlines are charging for checked bags, more passengers are bringing carry on bags with them. With this in mind, it seems obvious. The more people trying to stow their bags in the overhead bin, the more time it would take to completely board the aircraft.

The effects of the time it takes to board a plane is turn time between revenue flight. The longer it takes for airlines to board passengers, the longer it takes before the plane can takeoff, reach its destination, and repeat the process.

Airlines continue to use this system because of the benefits they can offer. These can include early boarding access, frequent flyer rewards, and credit cards.

A faster boarding system is one that was developed by Jason Steffen, an astrophysicist. His method is boarding the window seats on every other row for one side, then the other. Then fill in the other sides window seats and continue to board in a similar fashion. This is simply a staggered way of boarding outside-in.

Boarding planes takes way too much time and could be solved. By changing the order in which passengers board, it will create less disturbance during the process and thus take less time.

Ian Baseler

Keizer