The Dumb Way We Board Airplanes Remains Impervious to Good Data

I flew Asiana recently. I was impressed how quickly the board planes; 777, 330, 747. The entire cabin crew is active and out in the plane during boarding, not hiding. Making people step out of the isle was the most obvious advantage, followed by assisting in supervising the loading of the overhead bens. It also helps that at check in in the US they verify all carryon’s actually fit. Then again, at the gate they aggressively enforce the size rules. The boarding of a full 747 was done and doors closed in less than 15 minutes. In every case, they boarded the planes faster than US carriers can board a small narrow body.

During boarding in Seoul when a gentleman wanted to bring on several large bags of duty free he was told he had to check all the non-breakable items, they even provided a hard sided bag to hold them. He protested, they moved him out of line telling him they would rebook him on the next flight. They proceeded to call standbys to give away his families seats.

They are serious about boarding their planes.