MAY
19

airplane_seating.jpgAirlines Try Smarter Boarding

Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks boarding Noah's Ark was probably more organized and efficient than boarding your typical commercial airliner. Airports have not been the most creative in solving these problems, as their computer systems have not properly allowed them to try a variety of boarding patterns, but now that is becoming a thing of the past as most airlines try different ways to create a more effective way of boarding an airplane.

It's the announcement that every frequent flier dreads: "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a very full flight today. Please step out of the aisle and into your row as quickly as possible so that other passengers are able to reach their seats."

But the chaos of aircraft boarding may soon go the way of the 727. Several major airlines are working to develop more efficient ways to board an aircraft, using computer simulations to come up with mathematically proven -- if counterintuitive -- boarding models with names like the "rotating zone system" and the "reverse pyramid."

In Wired's article they have an animation that shows the traditional boarding order and the new systems that are being put in place to try to speed up boarding times. I really liked the "reverse pyramid" scheme as it looked like the most efficient.

Airlines Try Smarter Boarding [Wired]

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