@HendersonVic wrote:
I have a couple of suggestions to help improve the boarding process for all. My first time here so some of these suggestions may have been offered up already.
To ease passenger anxiety, have two rows of seats labeled 1-60 so passengers can be seated instead of standing on the line. When asking passengers to come up and board, only call fifteen (15) passengers at a time- giving them ample time to walk-in and choose a seat Ask Group B to line and be seated after the A group has proceeded to board. Ditto for Group C. Passengers are less anxious because they have seats which makes waiting to be called a little bit easier.
Of course, those that need extra time be allowed to board first. Then active military personnel. Followed by those with small children, however, they may not sit in any row before the emergency exits over the wings or they can board through the normal boarding process. The next group of passengers would be the A-List passengers (No, I am not an A-List passenger). After that, the normal process to board would take place- again, fifteen (15) at a time. All these passengers would be identified in advance when they purchase their tickets.
Greetings and welcome to this forum.
Feel free to share your thoughts--we always like good suggestions! Just keep in mind that Southwest staff may not catch your suggestions from this board as it is customer-to-customer.
I would forward your suggestion directly to Southwest Customer service:
https://support.southwest.com/helpcenter/s/email-us
Southwest has a pretty efficient boarding process to get everybody on the plane as quickly as possible; that is likely the reason why they are able to get everybody on with the plane pushing back within 25-30 minutes to allow for a 30-minute prior boarding time, even for full flights aboard their larger MAX8 and 8H4 planes. Many other airlines start boarding 45-50 minutes prior.
I agree at some airports, the spacing in between the boarding poles can get pretty tight to form the single-file lines on each side of the poles which I agree should be dealt with to ease crowding. E.g. The C-Concourse at LAS has plentiful spacing whereas the B-Concourse at LAS gets very tight. Same can be said whenever I depart from SAN. When the line gets packed, I'll simply "meet" the people who are assigned in front and behind me so I know who to follow, then I'll go off to the side of the line and wait there. I'll then fall back into the line in between the two persons once it begins to move. I've noticed others doing this too which has reduced crowding.
Having seats in place of the boarding poles is an interesting idea...not quite sure how it can be properly executed or put into practice as it would require more space due to luggage and likely additional time to get everybody moved. Not sure how the airports would favor this as they 'own' the gate area seating, the agent desks and computer hardware.
Southwest's "A61" positions (those who board in between A and B) are in the following order based on my last few flights:
- Those needing Extra Time to Board
- A-List+ALP not securing A-Positions or "lost" their original Priority boarding Position due to a late booking or same-day flight change or standby. Also same for Business Select but with all A1-15 slots sold out at the time of Same Day Flight Change or Standby.
- Family Boarding
- Military
These groups just wait near the gate entrance in the pre-board area as the A-group boards. The "A61" spot is fair-and-square in my opinion for these groups. Lots of windows, aisles, bin space, and full rows from the middle of the plane all the way to the back at that point.
