“TOP 10 OBSERVATIONS ABOUT AIRLINE BOARDING PROCEDURES!”

Have you flown on any of our domestic airlines in recent months? Do you ever plan to fly? If you answered “yes” to any of those 14 questions, keep reading.

CAVEAT EMPTOR (a Latin expression, meaning literally, “luggage in the overhead bin can kill you”): Flying is an adventure. OMGosh! Don’t take anything for granted. Returning home from your travels unscathed with all of your body integrity and luggage intact requires vigilance and preparation.

Recently, I jotted down a few observations of just the boarding procedures by several of the major airlines. It is my conclusion that they are far too complicated and confusing for most people to follow. The result: From the gate through the jet way to the aisle on the aircraft, there is passenger blockage everywhere.

The problem areas that need attention are described in my following top 10 list. This blog presents the 1st five; the next blog contains the remaining five. Remember, I am not suggesting solutions yet. Maybe you can relate to 1 or 2 of these problems.

TOP 10 OBSERVATIONS:

10. When the boarding announcement at the gate is made for your zone to board, the obsessive-compulsives are already standing near the agent ready to jump into line as everyone else rushes to line up, only to come to a screeching halt 3 feet later in the jet-way tunnel where everyone is backed up, standing in either frying or freezing temps until the aisle cloggers on the plane sit down.

9. Boarding pass seat numbers with 1 or 2 digits and a letter are waaay too difficult for many passengers to locate their seats, plus they can’t find the numbers above the seats. (Obviously, these passengers missed several “must-see” episodes of Sesame Street.) (NOTE: Even without a seat number and a letter, passengers on Southwest can’t make a decision on which seat to pick and, instead, just hold up aisle traffic until they can make up their minds.)

8. Passengers who can’t locate their seats or try to jam tons of “over-sized” luggage into the overhead bins clog the aisle like standing blobs of plaque, blocking everyone else from getting to their seats and delaying take-off.

7. Passengers carry-on waaay too much luggage and tooo many bags even when checked luggage is free on Southwest and the flight is nonstop.

6. Passengers who carry on 2- or 3-suiters and large duffel bags try to smash them into the already over-packed overhead bins. This violates a basic law of physics: “No 2 objects can occupy the same space at the same time.”

Have you experienced any of these passengers on your flights? We need to do something about them. Think about a few solutions while I write the next five observations in my list. I think you’ll like those even more. Stick around. Don’t abandon me yet.

COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC