Researchers used mathematical models to determine the best way to board a plane. Letting the slowest passengers go first is 7% faster than any other method. Experts suggest allowing free checked bags to speed up boarding times.
We’ve all been there. You finally get to your seat on a plane only to sit and wait for everyone else to board.
And while there may not be a way to make the process entirely painless, the researchers used mathematical models to determine the optimal method of boarding: letting the slowest passengers go first.
Using four-dimensional computer simulations, scientists from Israel, Latvia and Norway considered which method of boarding was the most promising: have the fastest passengers go first, the slowest go first, board everyone randomly, and get on from the last row to the first row .
From the outset, it appeared that getting the fastest passengers on board first was the best option, but that changed as the calculations neared completion. The fast-first method is optimal until the boarding reaches 98% completion. However, in the later part of the boarding period, slow boarders slowed the process significantly.
It turns out that letting the slow boarders go first is 7% faster than any other method. The researchers explained that while those first few minutes might be tedious, eventually the process will run much smoother.
What’s so difficult about getting on a plane:
Boeing says the average time it takes to board a plane is twice as long as it was in the 1970s, from 15 minutes then to 30 minutes now.
Experts say the best way to speed up boarding times is to allow passengers to check bags for free, but that would cost US carriers more than $4 billion a year.
Astrophysicist Jason Hyrum Steffen has published research in which he tries to show that the fastest method for boarding an airplane is to start with all the window seats, followed by the aisle seats.
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