After hours of delay, your flight is finally boarding. But as the line grinds to a halt, you can’t help but think — there must be a faster way to board this plane. Mathematicians have been studying this problem for years, devising and testing a range of different boarding methods. Rachel Yang digs into our biggest plane-loading bottlenecks and potential methods to alleviate this travel headache.

 

 

 

Watch the video:

 

and match each boarding method (1–5) with the correct description (A–E).

 

1. Back-to-front boarding

2. Random seating

3. WMA / outside-in

4. Steffen method

5. Southwest’s 1970s system

 

A. Passengers are allowed to choose their seats, but this can cause problems when people are looking for the remaining seats.

B. Passengers board according to a carefully planned pattern involving even and odd rows, as well as different types of seats.

C. Passengers at the back of the plane board first, followed by those further forward.

D. Passengers board through an extremely fast and unusual process, with new passengers already waiting while others are still leaving the plane.

E. Passengers board window seats first, followed by middle seats and then aisle seats.

 

 

Key: 1C; 2A; 3E; 4B; 5D

 

 

Glossary

 

• to grind to a halt – to stop very slowly, especially because of a problem or difficulty
• bottleneck – a point where a process slows down
• to alleviate – to make something less painful, difficult, or serious
• seat interference – when passengers are blocked by others in their row
• to stall – to stop or slow down, usually because of a problem or obstacle
• to ditch – to get rid of something or stop using it
• congestion – a situation in which a place or system is too crowded and movement becomes difficult
• to shave a few minutes off – to reduce the time by a few minutes
• aptly – in a way that is very suitable or appropriate
• to stagger – to arrange things at different times/positions rather than all together
• to push back – when an aircraft is moved away from the gate before departure
• tarmac – the hard surface where aircraft take off, land, and are parked
• aggravating – annoying or frustrating, especially because something keeps causing problems

 

 

Practice makes perfect

 

Complete the gaps in the article extract with the words in bold below:

 

differ                  room                  crucial               insignificant                    multiplied

made up                          profitable                        vary                    aisle                    seamless

 

United Airlines is re-introducing its WILMA window-to-1. ………. boarding process, which the airline says saves an average of two minutes per flight. This is not an 2. ………. savings. Ground time costs airlines an estimated $100 a minute. A $200 savings per flight, 3. ………. over the 4,900 daily flights the airline operates, means nearly $1 million in daily savings.

But is this boarding process the most efficient? Experts have conducted multiple studies to find the optimal boarding processes, and their findings 4. …….. .

Airlines Seek Efficient Aircraft Turnaround

Efficiency in the aviation industry is 5. …….. for both airlines and passengers. Passengers want a 6. ………., stress-free boarding experience, while airlines need to minimize costly aircraft turnaround times to keep flights 7. …….. . A recent study into average aircraft turnaround times at airlines worldwide found 8. …….. for improvement. It was conducted by technology firm Assaia, which has developed Apron-AI, an aircraft turn optimization platform for the aviation industry. (…)

The study groups’ average turnaround times range from 107 to 66 minutes. The average ground delays 9. …….. between eight minutes for the best performers to 26 minutes for the worst. The average ground delay can be 10. ……… by making turnarounds more efficient, such as improving the passenger boarding process. (…)

In order to read the whole article/check your answers, go to: https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisagarcia/2023/10/23/united-airlines-window-to-aisle-boarding-how-much-does-it-save/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

 

Key: 1. aisle; 2. insignificant; 3. multiplied; 4. differ; 5. crucial; 6. seamless; 7. profitable; 8. room; 9. vary; 10. made up

 

Discuss

 

• What is the most frustrating thing about boarding a plane for you? What usually causes the biggest delays?
• Do you prefer to board as soon as possible or wait until the last moment? Why?
• How much does the boarding process influence your overall impression of an airline?
• The video suggests that the Steffen method is the fastest, but it requires passengers to follow very specific rules. Would you be willing to follow such a system if it meant a faster boarding process?
• The video suggests that airlines may actually benefit financially from long and frustrating boarding processes because passengers are willing to pay for priority boarding. Do you find this strategy clever or unfair?
• The video ends by suggesting that we should “allow our fellow passengers some grace.” What does this mean in this context? Do you think people are becoming less patient?

 

Watch and Revise!

 

Unlocking the Secret to Faster Plane Boarding

 

 

https://www.cloud.worldwideschool.pl/index.php/s/EznetTLf9z4o6FA

 

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