Back in the fall I broke news that American Airlines was testing new tech to enforce boarding groups at its gates.

• Passengers scanning their boarding pass before their group number is called will be met with an audible tone.
  
• Gate agents then ask the passenger to step the side until their group is called

One gate agent in Dallas, though, doesn’t think that’s enough. They threaten passengers with additional consequences for trying to board out of turn.

The lone agent working our full flight out of DFW this evening announced “any passenger trying to board before their group will be forced to gate check their bag.” It was one of the more efficiently boarded flight I’ve been on.

Already, gate agents require passengers to check their carry-on bags even when there’s still overhead bin space on board. They want to prevent the need to bring any bags off the aircraft when passengers find there’s no more space. That takes critical minutes right before the aircraft’s doors are supposed to close, and they don’t want to be yelled at for missing an exactly on-time departure.

This agent figures, why not transfer that burden from later-boarding passengers onto the ones trying to skip the line? There’s a certain justice in it, since the only reason to board early is to get that precious overhead bin space in the first place.

And creating extra hassle for a gate agent by boarding out of turn is the last thing a single agent working a flight departure all by themselves needs. American Airlines switched from two agents to just one agent to board narrowbody planes in 2021. That means less time for agents to help with standby passengers (so the airline restricted standby at the gate), to help with seat assignments, to answer questions from nervous flyers and provide general customer service.

So if you’re going to make the agent’s life more difficult, failing to follow the rules, the tone that sounds when trying to board out of sequence doesn’t just kick you out of line – with this DFW gate agent, it means losing your permitted carry-on bag and waiting for it at baggage claim at the end of your journey.

An important thing to know, by the way, is that if you buzz because you’re boarding before your group is called, the gate agent can clear the flag on their screen and allow you to board anyway. That’s useful if you’re traveling with a family member or friend on a different reservation – it is actually policy according to the airline that you should still be allowed to board together in the earlier group.

I have a strong preference for the American Airlines boarding process, although it’s about to start 5 minutes earlier on many aircraft. They have a priority lane and a general boarding line. Passengers are called to come to their respective line when it is their group’s turn to board. No one has to stand there like with United’s boarding queues where passengers line up in their assigned group far in advance of boarding. American doesn’t push passengers to waste time standing in line before it’s time. Keeping people out of line until it’s their turn is even better.