News re: preboarding for kids or the disabled.

[NotUrsula]

This was on the front page of my local paper today; looks like
most of the US carriers have quietly changed their policies on pre-boarding with young children, and some now do not announce preboarding even for the disabled; they are making passengers ask:

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...e=Some+airlines+alter+early-boarding+policies

The printed version of this had a chart that is not included online.
It lists current policies. According to the chart, the 4 carriers listed who still announce preboarding are CO, NWA, SWA, and USAir, though NWA excludes families with children from the announcement; it applies only to unaccompanied minors, the disabled, and exit row passengers. The airlines shown as having discontinued the announcement are AA, Delta, and United. AA & Delta apparently allow preboarding if you ask for it, and United allows it for the disabled upon request.

It seems that all the majors still allow elite passengers to pre-board if they choose. I'm wondering how all of those preboarded VIP's feel when they get to be the lucky saps to get bopped with all the diaper bags and carseats that parents are struggling to carry on.

The thing that struck me was how the article really wasn't able to provide a concrete reason for WHY families are not being allowed to preboard. It appears that they are implying that it slows the boarding process, but that makes little sense.

 

[CarolA]

What I have never figured out is why you would preboard you children except on SW? The average toddler has NO desire to sit quitely in their seat for 2 or more hours. So the earlier you preboard the longer you make them sit. My Aunt always sprinted her kids aboard at the last call.

As to slowing down boarding, yep it does. Families always try to get themselves up front so when the airline boards rows 30 and higher the family in row 14 is standing in the aisle trying to get settled holding up the whole process. I saw it yesterday on SW in Tampa. Big family with 3 children (one lap baby) was first on the plane. I promise they were still trying to get settled when the rest of the plane was ready to take off and the Flight Attendant had to keep shoving them back into their row so the rest of the plane could board.

 

[seashoreCM]

Apparently those airlines feel that boarding overall is quicker without pre-boarding.

Incidentally, way back when when they used to do pre-boarding, the announcement usually contained the words "who may need more time".

However when you do board, don't work up a sweat that you will have to wallow in uncomfortably for the first few minutes of your fligyht. If you need more time to get the kids settled, so be it, amen. Keep quiet and say nothing if the stewardess suggests otherwise.

Not pre-boarding kids does give the VIP's more time to enjoy pre-flight drinks.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[n2mm]

I fly Delta and United and I haven't heard them preboard families with children since the early 90s. That is just something they do not do anymore. So this is not news to us. Yes individuals with special needs should board early because it takes awhile to get some folks out of the wheel chairs and settled in. And the folks who are chartered members can board when they want. Since most of the flights I'm on are more than 50% families with children, these airlines stopped this preboarding so long ago I had forgotten this was once an option.

 

[beattyfamily]

Since I've been flying Delta, it's always been boarding back to front with no special pre-boarding for people with children.

I've just learned to try and be the last one on and hopefully up front so I don't bang anyone with all our stuff for the kids...

So there's really nothing new in that story from my point of view.

 

[GoldenOldie]

Originally posted by seashoreCM
...say nothing if the stewardess ...

Who?

 

[inkkognito]

The only places I can see where pre-boarding children might slow down the overall process is in child-heavy locals like Orlando. We fly to Orlando almost monthly, and at the busiest times of the year, the place is literally sometimes 3/4 full of families with small children. Allowing almost everyone to pre-board all at once, with seats scattered throughout the plane, would be slower that just doing it by rows (and since it would fill from the back forward, the diaper bag popping would be mostly eliminated, at least in theory.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[DebbieB]

I fly USAir and find that they sometimes restrict preboards to families with a child 2 or under. That makes sense. Otherwise you have families with pre-teens and teens running up to preboard. It was intended for small children.

My pet peeve - they call the row numbers but people who have seats in the front will run up and get in the way of people with seats in the back who are to board first. When I was in Hartford in Feb, they specifically said not to get up until your row is called. Great, I thought. As soon as they called the first rows in the back, everyone got up. Some people even tried to sneak in before their row was called and they were turned away! What's the big hurry? The plane isn't going anywhere until everyone is on. I know what the rush is - everyone is trying to get on first to find a spot for their carryons. I saw one guy with 2 big loaded duffle bags, he seemed to be by himself. He was sitting in the front so I don't know if he was able to get on with them both or not.

 

[safetymom]

I am Gold preferred with US Airways and being able to board first is a great perk. I have sat in First many times. I don't drink but it is so nice to get overhead space right above your seat and get the pillow and blanket.

I figure I fly enough that I should be able to get on board before most of the people. If you need extra time because of a disability or small children I would not have a problem with that.

I figure for the number of flights I took and the full fare tickets I bought being to get on the plane first is a great perk and I am glad that the airlines recognize that.

 

[Piper]

I have a mobility impairment...I use a crutch and large crowds and jostling can cause me to lose my balance. I am slightly unsteady. I appreciate being able to board early and not have to be pushed and shoved!

 

[Gillian]

People boarding with strollers and car seats need a little extra time because the strollers need to be folded near the door (you can't usually roll them folded) and the car seat(s) need to be strapped into the seat before the kid can go in it.

I appreciate having a few extra minutes to get this stuff done before the crowds come. It's not so I can grab all of the overhead space (we try to travel light), but so that I can dump the stroller, install the car seat and GET OUT OF THE AISLE before the rest of the flight boards.

We flew continental to orlando recently and were told there would be no preboarding due to the # of kids. They must have changed their minds along the way, because they did preboard small children. However, we had a hard time getting through all the people standing around the gate waiting for their row to be called.

 

[prncess674]

It seems that all the majors still allow elite passengers to pre-board if they choose. I'm wondering how all of those preboarded VIP's feel when they get to be the lucky saps to get bopped with all the diaper bags and carseats that parents are struggling to carry on.

I am one of those Platinum Elites on Continental. 95% of the time I am in First Class. They may not board small children but they always board disabled passengers BEFORE FC and elites. I do understand the need to board the disabled because I travel with my disabled father and I know that the extra time is necessary.

As to your comments about being lucky sap that get bopped with diaper bags. Your big diaper bag is no different than the greasy salesman with his garment bag thrown over his shoulder. If I am seated in an aisle in coach I keep my eye out for oversized bags and duck accordingly. I will duck anyday because I would rather board early in my elite priority seat towards the front with my carryon bag securly stowed above me than wait till the end and have to gate check my carryon which then delays me by 20-30 minutes because I then have to go to baggage claim.

I think the airlines should all board from both the front and the back. Allow the elites and FC who have priority seating in the front to board from the front of the aircraft and allow pre boarding families to sit in the back and load from the back of the aircraft. SWA in certain cities (AUS and others I can't think of) have already started boarding some of their aircraft in this manner. I realize SWA doesn't have elites but they do have dual boarding doors conept.

 

[ducklite]

Disabled absolutely need to be preboarded. People with young kids, no way unless they have a car seat that needs to be installed. Lap babies? Too bad get in line. In fact I think people with younger kids and no car seat should be in the back of the line--let the fast people board, then board the slow pokes who clog up the aisles so no one can get onboard!

Another solution--anyone with a car seat has to be in the back ten rows--that way they can all board at once and take as much time as needed to settle in. I always book my sisters famillies air for them, and always put them in the very last row--close to the lav for the kids and they can take half an hour to settle, resettle, and finbally settle without disturbing or holding up anyone.

Anne

 

[NotUrsula]

in my elite priority seat towards the front with my carryon bag securly stowed above me than wait till the end and have to gate check my carryon

You know, boarding priority aside, I've never understood why the FA's can't set it up so that the compartments above those seats stay empty until their occupants arrive. Then it wouldn't matter when you got on, you would still have your allotted convenient storage space ready and waiting. Perhaps put a code lock on them, and only give the code to elite passengers?

I don't want to give the impression that I don't think Elite fliers deserve their perks; I don't begrudge them in the least. However, aside from the overhead bin issue, I just can't see why anyone would *want* to have to sit there and dodge all the detritus going past down the aisle during boarding.

As to diaper bags and garment bags; well, bags of any sort presumably will fit between the seats if they meet the carryon limits, so carrying them high is usually unnecessary, and I for one never carry a bag high if it will fit between the seats. Carseats are another situation entirely. They don't fit down the aisle between the seats, so you must carry them on over the level of the seatbacks. I'm short, so if I do that, I literally cannot see where I am going, except by watching for feet in the aisle ahead of me. If I carry the seat upside-down and sideways so that I can see over it, the seat portion then sticks in over the seatbacks on one side or the other, and I end up nearly decapitating the seated passengers that I pass by. Either way, it is awkward and a little bit hazardous.

With a child <40 lbs., the safety of using the seat outweighs the inconvenience to other passengers while I wrestle it onto the aircraft, but I would prefer to get it onto the aircraft without having to risk inadvertently hitting someone with it. (This is why we are always last off the plane as well.) I don't think that it is normally necessary for an entire travelling family, with 2 adults along, to preboard, but I think that one person installing a carseat should be able to. Of course, if that one adult is the only adult travelling with small children, the entire family would have to board together. On a few occasions, when I was travelling alone with children, I managed to cajole a ramp agent to go drop the carseat in my child's seat for me before boarding started; that turned out to be the best solution of all.

BTW, I've encountered lots of airports in Europe recently where both doors are used for passenger loading; it really is very efficient. Most of the time it involves using at least one rolling stair, though. I'm old enough to remember the gate-to-aircraft elevator shuttles; are there any airports that still use those? I can remember watching them and thinking just how cool they were!

 

[safetymom]

I used to feel that way about preboarding. Why would anyone want to get on the plane early? Then I become preferred and now I understand why. Even my kids understood when they got to board early. I would have a hard time going back to the old way.

Until people learn to check their baggage and only carry on the essentials it will only get worse. I don't understand why they think they are special to hold everyone up while they try to find spaces for all the extra stuff they brought on board. My time is as valuable as theirs.

I think the airline really needs to enforce what gets brought on board. Until that happens I will be grateful that I got to preboard.

One of the best planes to fly one is the 757 because they board from the middle door. If you are sitting in first, the coach passengers don't have to walk past you.

 

[SueM in MN]

The "disability" pre-boarding has not been automatic for a few years, depending on what airline you fly. We've been told that since "some people with disabilities did not like being singled out, it is assumed that people who needed extra time would ask." This is a problem since many people with disabilities find this after boarding has begun.
We always ask for it now because we have sometimes we've been preboarded without asking and other times we've been left boarding with everyone else. Since my DD is not able to walk unless someone holds her up, we slow everyone else down temendously unless we can preboard. Plus, we have to stow her wheelchair. In our experience traveling on different airlines, usually passengers with disabilities are called to board at the same time or after the elite/first class passengers. Sometimes, we have been called at the same time as passengers with small children. And sometimes there is no pre-announcement and you can only pre-board if you requested extra time.

 

[seashoreCM]

There is one advantage to a slow moving person in boarding last, there aren't biztravelers and elites behind breathing down his throat and nipping at his heels like cars impatiently following a bulldozer on a two lane road.

Without preboarding for the very young and old, the elite folks can now get the plane moving faster. All they have to do is hustle themselves so more boarding time is left for those behind.

And for those families who complain that they are always in the back next to the bathrooms, they get to board early that way as well as the kids don['t have to walk as far to the bathrooms.

Next trip: Nov. 2003, Pop Century or All Stars, hopefully.

 

[safetymom]

My experience has been that it isn't the elites that are holding up the plane.

 

[ducklite]

Have to agree with safety mom--It's not the elites holding things up--it's Joe and Mary "I fly once every three years and have to take everything I own with me on the plane, they might not have a sink in the bathroom, so I need to bring that along too".

They are also the people with three kids and grandma that hold up the aisle leaving the plane because they ahve to get to Mickey first, but wait--we have to collect all of our strewn about belongings and jrs crayons, but that's OK, everyone will wait for us to get our fat butts out of teh aisle.

Anne

 

[Nik's Mom]

Ducklite,
I agree with what you are saying, and I am a mother of a 1 year old and 4 year old. We prefer to board last and exit the plane last because we don't want to hold up the line with our car seats, diaper bags, etc. What would really be cool is if they allowed just one of us in early, so that person could install the car seat ahead of time. I may ask to do this on our next flight (American Airlines). I can tell you, we are very stressed out trying to get that car seat installed as quickly as possible. You parents know that it isn't as easy as it seems to install a car seat. If not properly installed, the car seat is useless. By the way, it also gets on my nerves that people feel like they have to carry on everything and the kitchen sink on the plane. Get a grip people. Do you really need that much stuff?