Delta starts back-to-front boarding process during coronavirus pandemic

...but remember, they still have to let 1st class, premier, super premier, super duper premier, super duper premier plus, super premier plus gold, silver, and bronze, active military (I support this one), people named Fred who look important, people who need extra time, people travelling with people who need extra time, families, people travelling with families, people who wished they had families, people with a lot of miles, people with less miles but spend a lot, people who don't have many miles, don't spend a lot, don't fly a lot, but paid the fee to get on early.....and then we will board from the back of the plane forward....oh wait, everyone's on....now if we can only get those over-sized carry-ons into the overhead bins...but wait...they can be checked in for free at the gate...bahaha to the fools who checked them curbside and paid for the service....you can't even get on early....but that's another post :-)

They need to stop charging for checked bags. They should charge for large carry-on bags. Then boarding would be much faster and there would be ample room in the overhead compartments.

With the normal exceptions, back to front boarding was the way we did it up to about 2002 when I retired. It was fast and efficient. I do not remember a carry-on bag problem as we have today.

This is the biggest DUH in aviation history. Whoever started zone boarding should be tarred and feathered. Always thought the zone board was just STUPID. First Class will get off first. Why all this class warfare stupidity inside an aircraft that is going to the same place at the same time with the same people?

It is time to apply some discipline to CARRY ON BAGS!

IATA was very sensible about this but alas, airlines have allowed these rules to be forgotten and now we have a new normal where everybody tries to fit the kitchen sink into an overhead locker!

CARRY ON should be exactly that. No more bags WITH WHEELS allowed in the passenger cabin.

If you can't carry it, CHECK IT!

I don't know why this hasn't been done long before the pandemic. Back of the plane in first would speed things up...wouldn't get clog the aisle with slow-pokes trying to cram stuff in overhead bins. I'm glad Delta has seen the light & continue this procedure well beyond the end of this pandemic.

So it took Covid-19 for them to finally figure this out. I've mentioned this on every 'let us know how we're doing' card and survey that I've ever filled out. I know many others have also. Chalk one positive up to the bug.

This has been a thorn in my foot or butt, wherever for years!
First Class boards first because they are richer than most! Just kidding, maybe they earned it!
Then Military and they should be in First Class anyway making the High $ Class 2nd Class now. Then babies and handicap (not sure about this one). Now we are up to my plan!
Board rear to front starting with all windows seats 30 A&F last row (using 3 & 3 across for demo)then 29A&F, 28A&F all the way forward!
Followed by 30 B&E,29 B&E, 28 B&E, all the way forward!
Then we finish with 30 C&F, 29C&F, 28C&F etc;. Shut the doors and lets roll!
To me this would eleminate people having to stand and wait for some person standing in isle trying to lift their 100# carry on and causing a backup. Would also eliminate having to crawl over 2 rows of people if you get your window seat.
Just saying and just think about the flow of black sheep before hammering me with your comments. Stand the "Tube" aircraft body vertical, fill it with water and what would it do? Yep, it fills the back (bottom) first because water seeks its on level!

I always try to get on at the last possible moment and I almost always check my bags. I find it amusing to watch people rush to get on first only to sit there an extra 30 minutes or more. Herd mentality.

It sure is about time. They should have been doing this years ago. I can only hope it catches on and remains long afterward. I am sure that the first class and others find that waiting is better than having to watch us economy people trod by.

How stupid. Why would you not want the congested aisles. It adds adventure to your travel.

Its about Friggen time Shouldve been doing this all along..... Thank you DL

They should board from the front and back. They used to do this a long time ago. Southwest did some testing with rear door boarding with stairs and as long as you could climb up stairs it worked well.

Boarding back to front is a lot easier when there is 8-10 pax on most flights now

Why not just move first / business class to the rear of the aircraft? Seats are movable, right?

The primary reason for a passenger to up their boarding priority is to get bin space. If the airlines would rigorously enforce the carry-on rules, this would be less of an issue.

A few years ago a university ran simulations for various boarding scenarios. The conclusion was that random boarding is actually the most efficient in terms of getting the plane loaded in the least amount of time. Of course, that also negated all the things the airlines due to stratify their passengers (and the revenue that goes with it).

The Southwest boarding process comes closest to the random boarding order system, and they turn their planes faster than most other operators.

it was always awkward to be a first class passenger,seated first, and then have the coach passengers going by after you were seated,only to peek at what you were doing or being served..this also might help with the carry on bag issues that have developed through the years...

Years ago, Mythbusters visited this very issue and found that random boardingwas the fastest and by around 10 minutes whereas the windo, middle, aisle was just a hair slower than the back to front method. As others here have pointed out, with people wanting to bring large carry-on bags onboard (you know, the roller duffle bags) and taking up the entire bin with them, it slows boarding down due to needing to find a place.

While I do not want airlines to make much more money off of what has always been free until Spirit started doing such, is that all bags have to either fit in the carry-on sizer at the gate or they have to check the bag and get charged for it.

It would also help if airlines actually made passengers wait for their proper zone. With people from zone 4 boarding while zone 2 is boarding, it does slow down the process. Air Canada actually made people wait for their zone the one time I flew on them and it seems boarding went faster and smoother than letting people board no matter which zone they were in.

Mythbusters preview with results: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss1S3-Kv6R8

One more time to hog all the overheads!

That's the way I used to board the old DC-9's when I was flying around Western Europe in the 80's.

I don't get it. Surely front to back or back to front makes no difference at all unless passengers are pre-ordered.
You line the passengers up in order of seating row from high to low and load through the front or
you line the passengers up in order of seating row from low to high and load through the back.

The problem with loading only through the back has essentially always been that there's a change of the nose wheel leaving the ground!

hey JIm, my name is fred, i look important because i fly non rev...as u know, nonrevs get nothing but a seat in the airport........

Love the changes Delta is making.

It's about time! I always take the survey and sarcastically state they should add a few more boarding groups. I never understood why people pay more to sit on the plane longer.

Should also include loading first and business last. Why the disconnect if safety is the issue.

I see comments about if you can't carry it, check it. Well, when you're 75 years old and you can't carry your bag, you're not supposed to have wheels? I can't carry a bag without wheels. This is the time of life when people tote their meds and other items considered very important that should not be checked.
I think some of these comments about carrying bags, etc, must be written by younger people who have not yet experienced what an older person can't do.
As far as checked bags, the first should definitely be free. I'm from a time where the cheapest seats were as roomy as first class is now. I first flew in 1967. Those were the days.
Maybe after a certain age such as 65 or so, you should be able to fly those so-called roomier seats without charge. They are, after all, not as roomy as 1967 seats.

Isn't this how they used to do it, a decade or two ago? I remember "Rows 25 and higher... Rows 20 and higher...Rows 15 and higher..." being the norm. That was until we had to start handing out all the "participation trophies" described elsewhere in comments.

Well said, Jim. In normal times, I fly many time per month. This type of complex boarding processes is one of ther reasons I rearely fly Delta. Even with it's imperfections, Southwest's system is the most simple and seems to me the fastest.

The link takes you to Fox News. Just an FYI.

We fly first class only. I’ll gladly wait for all others on board & aisle clear before boarding, which we normally do anyway.

When I can go to variance
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The trucking companies and the Post Office learned about queueing theory decades ago. I think the airlines have ignored it for so long because the average schmuck gets angry when confronted with a system that seems to inconvenience him. Just listen to the grumbling in a single queue, multiple server system. You'll hear the same people grumbling in a tail to nose loading system, even though it knocks many minutes off loading time.