American Airlines has started enforcing boarding groups, to stop line jumpers. If you board before your group is called, the gate reader will buzz and you’ll be rejected until it’s your turn.
Now, starting May 1, they’re going to start boarding planes earlier as well. They think this will reduce the chaos of boarding. Most domestic mainline flights will board 5 minutes earlier than before. This was just shared with the airline’s employees today – most domestic flights will start boarding 40 minutes prior to departure.
Earlier Boarding Is An Industry Standard
Southwest Airlines boards 30 minutes prior to departure. They have the advantage (until next year) of customers being highly motivated to queue up and board quickly in order to get the best seat possible, since seating is first-come, first-served. They also don’t charge for the first two checked bags, so customers aren’t trying to bring as much stuff on board which speeds up the boarding process.
However other airlines like Delta and United generally board 40 minutes prior to departure for most domestic narrowbody flights.
When Delta voluntarily added boarding pay for flight attendants it was at the same time that they moved boarding earlier, from 35 to 40 minutes before most domestic flights.
Boarding Later Is Better, Though!
The last thing I want is to spend more time on the aircraft. I’d board last if I could. But I want overhead bin space, ideally near my seat. And that means I need to board close to the beginning of boarding.
I loved when American Airlines boarded Boeing 737s 30 minutes prior to departure. That stretched to 35 minutes once they densified the cabin (added seats) under US Airways management. Airbus A319s still do 30 minute boarding, and there’s absolutely no reason to board a small A319 35 minutes prior to departure.
Just as I find American’s boarding process to be more humane and respectful of time than United’s and Delta’s, I’ve found their boarding times to be also. I hated United’s boarding pens, and I still dislike groups 1 and 2 lining up long in advance of boarding. Unless you’re a Global Services or 1K member, you need to queue significantly before boarding or else you’ll find that the bins above you in first class are taken as a mere group 1 traveler.
United Airlines Boarding
The whole point in adding larger overhead bins was that you’re not supposed to run out of bin space, so you shouldn’t need to board early. In practice, though, you do. Passengers stow more belongings overhead than they should, and they do not stow them correctly to maximize use of space.
What this all adds up to is, I’ll now have to board 5 minutes earlier for every flight. Five minutes per flight over the course of a year can easily mean an extra 8 hours of time wasted.
I’m someone who gets to the airport as late as possible, or spends extra minutes in the club working. If I’m at the gate, I’m laptop open until the last moment. I live my life where every minute matters, so for me this is American giving up a competitive advantage as the airline that actually respected my time. And it’s 5 fewer minutes of productivity in the club, which reduces the value of clubs (and, by extension, their premium co-brand credit card that comes with club membership).
This Will Be More Stressful For Many Customers, Not Less
Customers who booked what looked like the best flight time and price, without understanding it meant a (perfectly legal) 25 minute connection in Phoenix – or who have a 30 minute connection in Charlotte running from the E gates off of a small regional jet to a mainline flight at the other end of the airport – are going to land knowing that their connecting flight is even further into boarding than before as they take off sprinting.
In theory, gate agents shouldn’t be closing the gate doors earlier than before with this change, but it will still be more stressful on the increased number of customers who land off of one flight “when their connection is already boarding.”
American Airlines Phoenix
But American Says They May Force Passengers To Gate Check Bags Less?
Gate agents are under a lot of pressure to get flights out exactly on-time (“D0”). One of the things that risks a departure delay is gate checking bags when overhead bins fill up. That takes up time in the last crucial minutes. So to avoid this, gate agents begin requiring passengers to check their carry-on bags before bins fill up.
One of the most common complaints I see with photos on twitter – across American, Delta and United (but not Southwest0 – is passengers being forced to gate check bags because ‘overhead bins are full’ only to board and discover plenty of empty space. That’s a terrible customer experience.
@united same flight different day, why do you say this ticket allows you a carry on and personal item if you don’t allow the carry on? Why are you gate checking bags with this much luggage bin room available? https://t.co/CFeCw4r65Q pic.twitter.com/sSeIv9qzsG
— Jessica Schupak (@whatssheeating) February 26, 2025
An American Airlines spokesperson offers that they hope to change this,
American’s gate agents and flight attendants will have more time to complete their pre-departure work and deliver personalized service to our customers. Flight attendants and gate agents will have more time to monitor and confirm when overhead bins are full, helping to reduce the number of involuntary gate-checked bags when bin space is still available.
Just took these photos on my flight. All this empty space where my bag could have gone!
It very clearly *isn't* necessary to keep things running smoothly.
So why do y'all do it?
(And that's just the empty spots near my seat, there was plenty more space further forward) pic.twitter.com/mnnSWLxITR
— Mostly here now: @davidthewid.bsky.social (@davidthewid) February 26, 2025
And Maybe We’ll Get Predeparture Beverages In First Class?
Flight attendants in first class are supposed to offer predeparture beverages to passengers. This isn’t just supposed to be ‘juice or water’, either. However there is no enforcement of this as a requirement, and the need to get the plane out on time has always been accepted as an excuse not to offer the service.
Not only does that reduce first class customer satisfaction (by providing less of a product, and less differentiation from economy), it also takes away a sales tool to convince other customers to buy up. One of the best ways to sell spending more on first class is for passengers who are boarding and filing past first class to see those seated there comfortable and enjoying a cocktail. You want passengers thinking that first class is a better life.
With more time on board (and flight attendants paid for that time!) there’s less excuse not to offer the service. I still don’t expect it to be enforced any time soon, and most of the time departure pressure is really just an excuse not the actual reason it isn’t provided. Still, in a possible triumph of hope over experience I’ll say there’s some chance we could see predeparture beverage delivery increase.
This Change Was Inevitable – And In The Works For Awhile
Ever since American’s flight attendants got a new contract, and with boarding pay I’ve been waiting for this announcement. It’s been talked about for many years but that had to get done first. So it’s a natural follow-on, that improves on-time performance and copies moves made by Delta and by United.
So it’s not a surprise. It could help with forced gate checking of bags and with getting predeparture beverages in first class, but the fundamental problem with both of those wasn’t ‘not boarding 5 minutes early’ it’s the priorities that have been laid out and enforced by management.
It’s possible that most passengers will prefer this, but I decidedly will not, since I will have to be on the plane 5 minutes earlier for overhead bin space – that’s 5 minutes of my life flight after flight and week after week that’s largely wasted. When you’re flying somewhere, the whole point is to get there quickly, and making the process take longer should be regarded as a failure. But I recognize that I’m jousting at windmills with this, against the tide of the industry.
Says who? We’re not cattle (and even then, I think the cows do actually feel pain, too). The point of (anything) is often subjective. Most of us here are not simply bargain-hunting for point A-to-B cheap fares. No, we’ve been traveling a while, for business and leisure; we’ve played the credit card and status games; we like a bigger seat or lie-flat, and a suite upgrade, when we can. Some of us have gone out of our way to be ‘loyal’ to a company–and lately, that simply isn’t paying off. We’re learning. Personally, I’ve learned to set lower expectations–or even to expect ‘the worst’–and that way at least I am less stressed, and less disappointed. But man, it sure would be nice to be pleasantly surprised.
I think enforcing the boarding sequence makes me feel that the carrier cares about those that actually paid for an upgrade. The boarding process is already chaotic, those needing special assistance, those with children, miltary, and finally first class. Is this what I paid for? To wait like a hungry Russian citizen on a bread line? Recognize those that paid up and then all others.
Does AA plan on increasing domestic turn times? As it is now many domestic turns are 50-60 minutes which means the time the plane deboards (with people moving like a bag of rocks due to their obesity), cleaned, and if new crew goes on it’s T-30 or even T-25 when boarding commences. Generally that means the plane barely getting off the gate in time if a few minutes late.
As far as pre departure beverages even when boarding is calm and there’s plenty of time flight attendants stare into space or at best serve a tray of warmish water. You could give an hour to board and the behavior would not change. Unless management comes up with a way to change the behavior.
When flying business or first, I prefer boarding early. The seats are far more comfortable than in the airside terminal, I have a tray to work on rather than my lap, and airport wifi generally reaches the plane. So I get just as much done as if I boarded last. If I get the predeparture drink, so much the better.
My guess is that the gates will start closing five minutes earlier. Of course there will be more people missing their flights. This may be by design. Not flying a passenger and being able to keep the money is a good deal for an airline.
@Gary — I don’t find boarding early (and spending a whole extra five minutes on the airplane to be stressful at all. I’m not all that crazy about being bumped in the shoulder with people’s carry-ons or coats, but — for me — getting to the airport in plenty of time to relax in a lounge is a stressless start to my traveling day. Perhaps it’s because I live in California, and I know that, although traffic looks fine when I leave the house, there’s no telling what might happen five minutes later, so I build in extra travel time. This relieves stress, not create it. Being able to have some coffee and go through emails (or whatever) in a quiet lounge lowers stress, not creates it. (Indeed, as I write this I’m in the American Airlines Admirals Lounge at SFO; my plane boards in 50 minutes.)
What borders on criminal, however, is what AA does in Phoenix, Charlotte and DFW. PHX and CLT are poorly designed airports (IMHO) that often require walking huge distances to make a connection. Not everyone walks as fast as I do (my wife, for example), and at both airports, we get on our connecting flight having broken a sweat and being out of breath…or we’ve simply missed the flight. DFW is its own particular place in hell…I have had to switch gates as many as four times — three of those involved changing terminals — in order to board my flight. It would be better to work it like LHR and announce the gate one hour or so before boarding. Passengers would be running around a lot less, and for god’s sake, stay in the same damned terminal. Having to jump on and off the air train with your carry-on and your one “personal item” is a pain in the a$$.
Takes longer to read this post than the 5 minute “delay” 1st world problem in a 3rd world country.
@George N Romey — Bah! You know what they’ll cut (it’s the cleaning). AA can barely pull off boarding a half-full E175 or 737 in under 45 minutes. Compared to east-Asian airlines like JAL, ANA, Singapore, where they board a full a350 or 787 in under 15-minutes. We can do better.
As far as drinks, I’m reluctant to blame the crews. I think it has much more to do with corporate policy than with whether a flight attendant discretionarily choses not to provide pre-flight drinks because he or she didn’t ‘feel like it’ or something–that’s an outlier.
To contrast with AA, I know that Delta at least often puts the smaller bottled waters in First pre-flight on smaller single-asile aircraft (CRJ, E175, 737, a321)–and I can’t remember too many flights where DL didn’t serve pre-flight. Sure, a G&T or Jack n’ Coke would be nice, but honestly we can wait until airborne if it keeps schedules. AA and UA are hit and miss on this, sadly.
@Ray — Insufferable. Some of y’all complain about Gary getting ‘political’ (when everything is sorta inherently political), but then when he posts about random airline or hotel gossip, you can’t handle it for not being ‘serious’ enough for you. Get a grip!
And are you suggesting that the United States is a ‘3rd world country’? Don’t you mean ‘Global South’ or ‘developing’–naw, I could care less what derogatory term or euphemism you prefer. Listen, I’m no fan of the current President or His policies, but have some self-respect–we’re no ‘shit-hole.’ So yeah, if we pay for First, if it isn’t too much trouble, we’d like a drink. M’kay?
@Jedi-Traveler — “You do not want (bread lines). You want to go home and rethink your life.” Of course boarding an aircraft is nothing like that. Also, we had ‘bread lines’ in the US during the Great Depression and even Covid-19, so let’s be real, that’s a ‘human’ experience, not a specific country, as much as I loathe the current Russian regime.
@jns — A no-show is usually a fee, not a forfeiture of the entire ticket price, but it depends on the particular ticket, so read that ‘fine print’ on the ‘contract of carriage,’ you know, the terms of service we all study diligently before any and all purchases–certainly a ‘negation,’ and not a ‘contract of adhesion’–ah, us greedy consumers, ruining the ‘free’ market. How dare we.
I meant *negotiation (though, ‘negation’ might work, too, in that context).
Blessed he or she who flies Qatar, JAL, Singapore, ANA, EVA and so on, who will board a widebody at T-30 and won’t be treated with stressful announcements about baggage handling (it’s a *passenger* cabin after all).
3rd world cuntry has 3rd world airlines.
This is a disappointment for me. With the new LAX Terminal 4 remodel (and installation of horrible, slow ANALogic equipment) this means I need to be at the airport an extra 20 minutes to allow for additional screening time and this earlier boarding. I am usually one of the first people on the aircraft for a variety of reasons, partially bin space, partially because I just want boarding over with. Any suggestion that a pre departure beverage will be on its way is a lie to fliers and all humanity. AA is not a premium airline and its culture will always hold it back.
Q: So what does this mean for all the Phoenix connections that they love to sell that involve 25-30 minute layovers?
A: Good luck everyone with carry-ons from your previous flight, they’ll now force you to gate check them on your connection because there’s no way you’re boarding that plane til 15 minutes before departure!
@Mary — Nonsense, like many of your ‘takes’ on here (from what I recall on prior posts).
Here’s one for you: Would you consider 2020s South Africa a ‘first’ or ‘third’ world country–because one of their airlines, Airlink, is better than anything we have domestic short-haul in the USA or Europe. Take JNB-CPT, under 3 hours, yet they provide wines and a nice meal for everyone, 2-2 seating in Economy, all E175/190. Consistent. Reliable. Excellent.
@Steve — Whether it’s PHX, CLT, or PHL, yeah, it was always a coin-flip for those MCT itineraries. But, hey, at least CLT has those rocking chairs, right? Perfect for sleeping in overnight when you miss your connect and the airline doesn’t provide a hotel voucher.
And still won’t be on time A0 or competively A15.
The focus on D0 is misguided. You get what you measure and manage, and they don’t manage for on-time arrivals