Preloading a plane cabin

Quote: Nareed

As yet no airlines here seem aware of this.

I think airlines are acutely aware of this. Some are introducing a valet service who will place your luggage above your seat. This service is, not aimed at business flyers, but the little old lady who struggles with her luggage. They want to see if they can board the plane faster with the help of professionals.

http://www.teague.com/thinking/perspectives/poppi-the-airline-of-the-future
This article envisions RFID tags on all luggage so that passengers don't worry about lost bags. Carry-ons would be restricted to purses, briefcases and laptops. They also feel that mobile phone apps will smooth out the boarding process at the gate, because people can get individual information on their phones, and not have to hover about the doorways.

Quote: Pacomartin

I think airlines are acutely aware of this. Some are introducing a valet service who will place your luggage above your seat. This service is, not aimed at business flyers, but the little old lady who struggles with her luggage. They want to see if they can board the plane faster with the help of professionals.

You know how boarding works when the gate agent says "first people in zone 1, then zone 2"? Right. People just mob the gate and board in any order they happen to be. Never mind boarding window seats first, then middle seats, etc.

So I was rather impressed by Interjet on my last flight when the gate agent turned people away and said "Sorry, we're not boarding your zone yet." The boarding did go faster.

Thinking about it, boarding is one aspect. If your plane is already late, and it will spend time sitting on the tarmac waiting its turn to take off, then boarding in 20 minutes vs 15 minutes makes little difference. One thing I love about Toluca now is that your flight is usually the only one taking off or landing in the whole hour; though last trip to Vegas we had to wait for a business jet to land first.

Quote: Nareed

Thinking about it, boarding is one aspect. If your plane is already late, and it will spend time sitting on the tarmac waiting its turn to take off, then boarding in 20 minutes vs 15 minutes makes little difference.

I found some statistics from size of pre-regulation days for airplane size. Before Southwest started shaking up the industry with it's rapid turnaround, short distance flights and quick boarding procedures, the average plane had a lot more seats.

I think in those days, there were so many factors to consider, that boarding time was probably a lot further down on the list.

Average Seats per commercial flight - Year
99 1954
98 1955
102 1956
111 1957
106 1958
104 1959
114 1960
123 1961
128 1962
131 1963
133 1964
132 1965
128 1966
139 1967
148 1968
162 1969
178 1970
185 1971 <---------- MAX average plane size
175 1972 June 18, 1971 southwest Airlines commences operations
176 1973
164 1974
169 1975
164 1976
162 1977
152 1978 October 24, 1978 The Airline Deregulation Act signed into law
151 1979

205 million air passengers in 1975
317 million air passengers in 1979

Probably the greatest percentage jump in any four year period in the history of USA aviation.