You may have never taken an intercontinental flight, made a transfer, or experienced the comfort of a classroom like this writer. businessbut when you get back to the airlines you’ll probably hear Americans disparagingly say ““door lice”“door lice.” Don’t be confused. Although it looks exotic, the concept is not very glamorous. Refers to passengers queuing up before the boarding gate.

It doesn’t matter if they haven’t called the group on your card yet, if there are other priority passengers, or if the airline staff hasn’t arrived yet. Most likely, door lice They are already there, crowds in front of the entrance fingers This makes it difficult for priority passengers to pass due to their assigned group or other circumstances, even looking for the opportunity to skip their row and settle into their seats before others.

It may seem like a minor problem but door lice has become as frequent and frustrating as one of the world’s largest airlines, American AirlinesHe decided to take action. Like? We’re developing technology to help you detect them. And push them back.

Anti “colon” warning

What American Airlines did was test a system that allowed it to monitor (and respond to) impatient passengers who weren’t waiting their turn to board. The initiative is currently ongoing pilot phase and not many technical details have been revealed, but the philosophy is simple: if a passenger tries to board the plane before the deadline; for example, if his ticket is in group C and he sneaks among the passengers. priority access passengers—the system will give an “audio signal” to airline personnel.

For what purpose? It’s very simple. Boarding passes will not be accepted and the passenger in question will have no choice but to return to the queue and wait for their original turn. Fast. Simple. It will also save airline operators from having to worry about whether the passenger who just turned in their ticket actually boarded at the appropriate time or whether they snuck in.

“The new technology is designed to enable customers to easily enjoy priority boarding benefits and help improve the boarding experience by providing greater progress visibility for our team,” American Airlines said in a statement a few days ago. he said. New York Times.

Currently, the system is in its early stages and has been deployed in only three US terminals: Albuquerque in New Mexico and Tucson international airports in Arizona; In addition to R. Reagan National Airport in Washington. The airline guarantees this pleased with results.

TNYT It misses another key to understanding why American Airlines decided to take action; This also explains the following phenomenon: door lice. If boarding passes are numbered, each passenger has an assigned seat, and there is no risk of being left without a seat on the plane… Why are there people who want to spend minutes and more standing at the boarding gate? Beyond the psychological factor, anxiety or simple mimicry, there is a simple explanation: the “fight” for space in the carry-on luggage compartments.

A passenger boarding before other passengers in your group may reveal more than just impatience. It’s a way to make sure you can leave your luggage in the cabin. And if possible, near your own seat.

“The only reason to board first rather than last is the overhead luggage space,” says View from Wing’s Gary Leff. News Week. The problem is that they get ahead of their own group. door lice They may disrupt the boarding process, make it difficult for other passengers who have the right to board first due to their needs or simply because they have paid to board the plane first, and illegitimately overtake their own group.

“Today, more people than ever before are skipping the lines because boarding early is an advantage that wasn’t available before,” says Scott Keyes, founder of Going.com. Increased check-in costs or airline staff having difficulty controlling the boarding order and all passengers being transferred to the plane fingers Keeping track of the groups assigned on your card helps with this phenomenon door lice It continues to be common today.

An acoustic signal like the one American Airlines is testing helps locate passengers looking to skip the boarding line and, more importantly, reduces arguments between company staff and passengers. An extra effect would be achieved if the method was extended beyond the three tested airports: deter door lice.

In search of the “perfect shipment”

American Airlines’ initiative is an interesting one, but it’s not the first to try to streamline a cumbersome procedure (boarding and baggage management) that’s becoming more common as air travel increases.

A few months ago we were talking about: simple trick Shared by an operator at Dublin airport who could save us from multiple problems while transporting our luggage and belongings cars: Remove any tape or stickers from old flights from any packages we want to check in. They still help you identify your luggage, but it can make it harder for technicians to scan, forcing them to do it manually. And this, they warn, “may mean you won’t be able to catch your flight.”

Another company trying to speed up passengers’ boarding was United Airlines. Just a year ago, it tested a method known as WILMA, which stands for “window-half-aisle” and focuses primarily on how to make it easier for economy class passengers to settle into their seats.

Its bet is pretty intuitive: board the passengers in the window first, then those in the middle seat, and finally the passengers in the aisle. In this way, passengers are prevented from having to stand up (and occupy the central aisle) to allow other traveling companions arriving later to pass.

It’s not just a matter of convenience. A study published in 2008 Los Angeles Times revealed that the airlines themselves they play for a lot of money To speed up your shipments as much as possible. To be more precise, you can save around $30 for every flight and minute saved. Multiplied by the number of transactions and minutes per year, this amount amounts to more than a considerable amount.

These figures explain why companies pay special attention to shipments beyond the fight against terrorism. door lice. WILMA (outside-in) and the same version were tested in alternative rows; random boarding with randomly selected seats; will first accommodate VIP passengers, then move on to main cabin and economy class passengers, sorting them from back to front; You can even go further and stop assigning seats to passengers; This practically allows for faster waiting in the aisle.

Once again, the time and money involved explains why some options are preferred examined in detail To evaluate which one is best. There are experts, such as Menkes van den Briel or Jason Steffen, who devote themselves to analyzing this problem from a scientific perspective and even publish it. documents about this.

Now the battle to realize the most agile, comfortable, quiet (and at the same time profitable) shipments seems to have set a new goal, and certainly no less: to counter the pesky phenomenon door lice.

Pictures | Mike McBey (Flickr), Phillip Mallis (Flickr) and Picture Catalog (Flickr)

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