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.
@Paul — We can and should ‘stand up’ respectfully to the company and its underlying policies, if those are the real issue, however, often, it is an under-paid ‘front-line’ worker (at the call center, gate agent, flight attendant, etc.) who gets the brunt of our ire, and it really isn’t their fault. Yet, when a gate agent abuses power, it is also disappointing and upsetting. We can and should fix the underlying issues without needlessly harming anyone. It’s not easy. We gotta ‘do the work.’
Good. I’m sick of people not being able to follow simple, basic instructions and board when they are called.
Just flew American from Newark to Kansas City with stops in Chicago and Charlotte. Their new boarding procedure was easy and no one got buzzed for boarding out of turn. All the legs of my flights except the Charlotte to Newark encouraged passengers in the later boarding groups to gate check their bags. All of these flights got off on schedule. The Charlotte to Newark flight was late leaving because everyone was bringing on a carry on plus a second item as large as their carry on. A backpack the size of a small carry on is a second carry on. That is what delays boarding on a full flight
I can see the justice in “incentivizing” people to follow the rules – I doubt that punishing a passenger for a mistake by taking away a bag they paid for would stand up in court…
I’m actually surprised nobody has sued UA/DL/AA for gate checking bags: Passengers pay for the right to bring a bag (see BasicEco fares), yet all three continue to sell this service, knowing full well they won’t be able to deliver the service on a full flight.
If somebody buys mainline eco without status to get a bag, boards last and then has to gate check – they should qualify for a refund, like an involuntary downgrade…
continuously offering a service that you have no intention/ability to deliver – isn’t that the definition of fraud?
Yet another reason, that i never fly American Airlines. They keep cutting service and cutting service. One agent per flight results in little to no service to boarding passengers. Then someone takes it upon themself to create punishment, which is not exactly solving any problem. Delta always has two agents per flight, which eliminates this kind of situation without upsetting any passengers. American Airlines…. tried to their motto… WE’RE NOT HAPPY UNTIL YOU’RE NOT HAPPY…. yet again.
Okay, so airlines started making us pay to check our bags. We then switched to carry-on bags. We didn’t want to, but the cost of a checked bag for each family member added up pretty quickly. So now, we are potentially being “penalized” for early boarding by having our bags checked. Makes perfect sense?! I always volunteer to gate check, so this is even better – I get incentivized to try to board early by not having to finesse my carry-on into a tiny and often full overhead bin!
@Rupert — It’s not really an ‘incentive’ (a carrot); rather, it is indeed punitive (a stick) to force a gate-check to a carry-on, if that passenger did not originally want that outcome, in order to ‘teach them a lesson’ for either intentionally or accidentally boarding out of turn.
As for fraud and lawsuits against airlines over things like this, good luck with that. You can always hire an attorney, as we are a hyper-litigious society, but this is not a no-fee only-pay-if-we-win-style ‘personal injury’ case, so you’d better believe any decent lawyer is gonna want a meaty retainer ($10K minimum) just to sent the airline a mean demand letter which they’ll probably ignore.
Otherwise, it’s a weak case as the actual damages are so limited. If anything, if something like this happens to you, just write a complaint on the airlines’ proprietary website, calmly and respectfully express your disappointment, kindly ask for miles as a compensation, ideally receive a response with a gift of 5K points or something ($50 worth), then just move on with your life and lower expectations if ever flying again with that airline. I know, it’s a sad and relatively ineffective solution, but it may be the best we got for now, since we do not elect representatives who enact better consumer protection laws and baseline consumer-friendly policies for this and other industries. Think about it next to you vote, if you’re in the USA. Canada, the UK, and the EU citizens have learned to treat their own better, and do have somewhat more helpful policies, like EU261, though that is less about carry-on bag policies and more about other things.
Of course, in our very much compromised quasi-monopolistic ‘free market’ system, if AA is the only one doing this, and it does upset you, hopefully you are not in a captive hub, like DFW or CLT, because then you can simply chose a different airline for your future business, and maybe in the aggregate, enough consumers voice their disapproval, and the airline finally changes course–then again, AA may influence other airlines to adopt similar ‘mean’ policies, so time will tell on that.
Just what aviation needs more gate agents believing they have the power to create new SOP’s.
@Steve — The fish rots at the head, as they say. When dictators and oligarchs around the world ‘get away’ with their abuses of power and insatiable greed, then it’s a ‘green light’ for even the smallest, pettiest nonsense like this. We, the people, don’t have to endorse this. We can say ‘enough.’ We can ‘vote’ with our feed, in this case, not fly an airline that allows such abuse. We can ‘complain’ literally and through official means (regulators, if any still exist). Otherwise, we can just stay home–remember those years during the pandemic? Yeah, it wasn’t ‘that’ bad. I do wish for better for us.
Hilarious.
Gifting a $43 benefit (checked bag) for free is considered “punishment”???
Typo: $35
@Rupert You don’t pay for the right to bring a carry on board bag. It is all subject to space, so take your sue attitude elsewhere you clown.
@Mary — Whether it’s $43 or $35 or $57…it’s not about the money, it’s about whether the consumer has the choice. If the company or agent can deny the consumer their choice (a ‘freedom’), then it is indeed a punishment, regardless of the potential ‘savings’ as you described it. I like freedom; I also recognize that we must limit some of our freedoms for the ‘balance’ of a society that functions. Yes, sometimes, we are forced to gate-check when we do not want to, but don’t tell me that’s inherently always ‘good’ when it really depends on the person, their preferences, and the circumstances.
@1990……. a typical LIBTURD. Please do stay home.
@BABS — No, you pay for the ‘option’ to bring a carry-on on-board. Rupert is correct, in-part, that consumers, passengers in this case, pay extra for that privilege, and if the airline denies it, perhaps there can be a remedy, like a small refund, if requested, if the incident is documented appropriately, and if the airline is reasonable in-return. If the airline is greedy, or the passenger is not scrupulous, then yes, the consumer is denied what they paid for, and in the aggregate it can cause losses of those extra fees paid, which can really add up. Also, consumer satisfaction, customer service, etc. can suffer as a result, which affects brand reputation, loyalty, overall business performance, and ultimately may harm the shareholders by reducing profits and their return on investment, you know, shareholders, the real ‘customers’ in this day-and-age.
@BABS — I’m home. Home is where the heart is. I see that you may be home-less. Happy to share some empathy and reason with you, if you need or want it. Be kind to yourself. You are enough.
Flying these days isn’t any better than taking a bus. Passengers continue to be nickel and dimmed by the various carriers. People complain about people reclining the few degrees the seats allow. Rather than first come first served, you have to pay more for a particular seat behind first class seating, such as wing exit rows. Passengers would like some comfort when flying: a little more leg / knee room, a little more hip / elbow room, a little room to relax after everything else you have to put up with just to get to your seat. Flying used to be enjoyable for most people. I don’t think it has for the past 30+ years at a minimum. The carrier’s desire to squeeze every penny out of you is a cause for customers wanting to get around your various rules. Now you want to just embarrass & punish them, you customers. I do my best never to fly anymore. You treat your customers like cows.
Love this! Take your turn as the boarding pass shows you when to board! Stop trying to jump the line. I have seen group 8 boating with group 1. It’s wrong! You tried to sneak in now go wait for your bag on the other end!
How can you gate check a bag that has laptop(s), items with enclosed batteries since these aren’t allowed in the cargo area, will they force people to remove these items and hand carry them onto onboard? Seems like a waste of time.
I’m 100% for gate agents making very explicit announcements including the requirement that the boarding order will be followed. Agent did it a couple months back at AUS and boarding went much quicker. Just like yesterday at MIA some moron (of course with a mask on) goes running up and shoves his way in front of Group One to board and thankfully the GA sent him packing. Saw him boarding at the end (wearing a blue N95 mask maybe him stick out) so presumably was Group 8 or 9.
I don’t understand why they don’t just board the plane from the back going forward. I’m sure it has to do with money. In that case board the specialty seats first, the board the rest from the back. Simple.
Inform the cheaters they are now in the last group to board.
@1990 — I can always count on you to get the cultural references!
@CVB05 — Agreed on money but also because in theory that’s even worse than everyone randomly boarding at the same time: once people start putting their bags in the overheads it quickly creates a bottleneck where no one can do anything until the person in front puts their bag up. Ideally you have a system of everyone lining up single file based on seat assignment (or a modified version of that).