Why do they board airplanes from front to back?

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Sher

I agree! It makes no sense. There is always a huge line because one guy is trying to shove the HUGE carry-on he brought into the overhead and forcing everyone to wait while he stuffs it in there.

My least favorite is the zone. My kid with the window seat can't really board alone now can she? She is 10 so we don't qualify for pre-boarding (fine by me) but she can't board alone, so what is the point of "zone boarding" if the whole family gets on at once?

All the flights I have taken recently have boarded front to back. It is always a cluster - f*** no matter how they decide to do it. People jam in front of the gate and then stand there. It is impossible to get past them to board when your number/zone/seat is called. They have zone 4 on their boarding passes but they line up at the gate when zone 1 is called. I have a news flash...your seat is assigned...it will be there when you board no matter what!!! Meanwhile, they sneer at you when you try and struggle past them to get on the plane because your number was actually called. I have had people yell at me when I was boarding because my number was called and theirs wasn't. If you ask me, flying has become too inexpensive.

Neil

Really? I don't think I've EVER seen that.

Gerald J

Every airline I've ever been on loads from back to front, of course most people ignore the procedure and crowd to the plane anyhow and I've never seen an airline actually enforce the boarding procedure.

mhmd

I don't know any airline that boards from the front to the back. They always board from the back except for first class, old people and people traveling with children.

I don't see why it would be so difficult, if you're not flying first or business, just wait till they're through boarding and then board yourself.

dankohner1

The board the from the back to the front. I have never seen front to the back before.

moe s

they dont they do it back to front except for first class. they pay more hense they get on first.

Leafsfan29 is on the 1st tee

The airlines have experimented with different methods.

United has gone to a zone system (windows first, then middles, then aisle seats). Delta has a similar hybrid of this (both systems give their frequent fliers priority).

The theory is that by boarding the main cabin from front to rear, you don't have this massive traffic jam at the front of the aircraft, making it hard for folks to get to the back while there's a huge amount of traffic in the front of the main cabin's aisle. It does work, but if you're on a flight with a lot of people who don't fly regularly, then bring your patience.

Then there are those carriers who don't assign seats, and it becomes a bit of a free-for-all.

You're never going to have a perfect system, but do know that the airlines are trying to make turnaround times as quick as possible as if they can make quicker turnarounds, it saves them money.

SeAwAvEs

good effing question!!!! but yeah it's cause flying has not evolved much from that 60's mentality...when you wore your best clothes to fly.. rich people sit up front/board first...thats one of the reasons flying it no longer as practical, the whole industry needs to be updated... although thats kinda the fun of it all, too...anyways..

the only time I don't care about this is when I fly first class... but that only happens when the airlines mess up or cancel my flight and they have to reschedule the flight and bump me up to first class to make me a happy camper ;) hahaha

Icecube

because they want to board first class and business class first, and those are in the front of the plane

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