American Airlines boards narrowbody aircraft 35 minutes or less prior to departure (a smaller Airbus A319 boards just 30 minutes before departure). That’s plenty of time to board a full aircraft, even with a planeload of carry on bags.
In contrast, United and Delta board these same flights 40 minutes prior to departure. Passengers get on the plane and sit longer. Delta started boarding domestic narrowbody flights 40 minutes prior to departure last June coinciding with the start of boarding pay for flight attendants.
United Airlines is testing moving from 5 to 6 boarding groups, with no change to group 3 boarding and earlier: (HT: JonNYC)
- Global Services, 1Ks, families with children under 2 and uniformed military still board before group 1
- Group 1 is premium cabin passengers and mid-tier elites and above
- Group 2 is bottom-tier elites, credit card customers and those who purchased priority boarding
- Group 3 is window seat passengers and nonrevs
- Group 4 is middle seat passengers
- Group 5 is aisle seat passengers
- Group 6 is basic economy
Passengers on the same reservation are supposed to receive the earliest boarding group of anyone in the party.
The problem with United’s boarding, though, isn’t just that they board earlier but how their gates are set up: boarding pens. Passengers line up in their assigned group, with each group having a different area (airport and gate-allowing), far in advance of boarding.
If you’re in group 1 you may be at the back of a line that snakes around the gate area even queueing prior to the start of boarding. If you’re in group 3-5 you may wind up without overhead bin space unless you line up 15 minutes before the start of boarding. That’s a huge waste of time. If you must have boarding pens, then be like Southwest and do 30 minute boarding.
American Airlines, in contrast, has a priority lane and a general boarding line. Passengers are called to come to their respective line when it is their turn to board. No one has to stand there like an idiot, wasting time.
To be sure this isn’t the only thing that goes into respecting a customer’s time. Delta Air Lines still operates on-time more frequently than American does, based on the latest available Department of Transportation statistics. However the gap isn’t nearly as big as it used to be, with Delta cancelling far more flights than they did prior to the pandemic. And it’s important for American, which still doesn’t perform consistently as well as Delta with on-time arrivals, to leverage the advantage that it has.
I don’t buy it. You usually complain about AA not telling you of rolling delays in time so it wastes time when you could have stayed in the lounge, etc. (which is all true) They ALL waste time in different ways. The DMV does a better job managing lines and the waiting process.
Now American needs to follow Delta and change their baggage drop time to 30 mins vs. 45 – because that doesn’t respect travelers time and requires us to be at the airport earlier than necessary.
“American Airlines, in contrast, has a priority lane and a general boarding line. Passengers are called to come to their respective line when it is their turn to board. No one has to stand there like an idiot, wasting time.”
Maybe Gary travels to cities where people are much more polite and professional than I do, but my experience has been that AA passengers simply mob the boarding lanes anyway. Sure, they’re not in pens, but now it’s just one big gloppy, sloppy, mass of flesh, with people from Zone 50 trying to sneak in early or simply block the way of everyone boarding before them.
I prefer the standing in line and hate when airlines don’t let me — I’ll be sitting for a while on the flight, so don’t mind standing up before, and by being able to get there early, I can ensure the earliest boarding/overhead space. Without the lines, it’s more risky and I get anxious.
I fly all 3 and find AA to have the best overall boarding process. UA lumnps way too many people into group 1 so half the plane is boarding sometimes. If I’m in first I don’t want to board like a cattle call.
DL, on the other hand, has a strange boarding process where Comfort+ (even without any status) board ahead of Silver and Gold members (think Platinum boards w Comfort+ but only lifetime Gold after many years of flying so don’t pay attention to that one. Frustrating as an almost 3 million miler and lifetime Gold that by the time I get on board it is sometimes is difficult to find an overhead bin open.
I know it is about preferences but, to me, AA with 10 boarding groups (including the CK preboards) is a better overall process and usually doesn’t have an overwhelming number of passengers boarding with any one group.
This is incorrect. United DOES have a priority lane. It is the blue lane 1. When boarding starts they ask group 1 to line up in the blue lane. Group 2 in the green lane. Groups 3-5 are asked to remain seated. Once groups 1 and 2 board group 3 is called up through the green lane. Then group 4 in the green lane. Then 5. The blue lane always stays open for group 1 so they board when ever they like. As someone who is an elite with United I can tell you this is very consistent. Not sure why you just make stuff up!
Gary – Do we really know if the boarding process on AA is quicker than DL or UA?
Just because you entered the jetway quicker doesn’t mean you get to your seat quicker. From my experience, there is a bottleneck in the jetway regardless if you board in 2 distinct groups like AA or 5+ zones like UA & DL.
If anything, it seems like UA & DL’s process can help alleviate the bottleneck in the jetway by managing the flow better rather than AA’s 2 large groups approach.
You haven’t flown United in more than five years. UA has two lanes just like AA. Your photo even shows it. Lane 1 is used for Group 1 and becomes the elite bypass when passengers arrive when boarding is already underway. Lane 2 is used by Groups 2-6.
@Carl is right about UA
The big dfference about AA is the first published group is just first class and EXP.
On UA the first published group 1 is loaded with more categories of fliers (first class, platinum, down to golds…equiv of AA plat which is group 3 on AA).
That’s the difference, not the ‘pens’ or people lining up, which happens on every airline.
How much did American pay you to write this PropagandAA piece? American’s boarding is just like everyone else’s full of gate lice getting in the way, too small of a boarding area to accommodate pax. I’m thankful Delta boards earlier, as it means my flight typically leaves on time or even early. I can’t remember the last time either of those happened on AA.
Congrats Gary, you finally posted an article without an obvious spelling or grammar error.
Too bad it’s factually wrong – United doesn’t have boarding pens, it’s two lanes, and they try to get you to stay seated until it’s your group’s turn.
@Carl: A minor quibble, but group 2 also uses lane 2; leaving only groups 3-5 for Lane 2.
It’s laughable to assert that AA respects this.. Yes even though they have two lanes designed, 5 out of 10 times they block the elite lane after it’s called. 8 out of 10 times if you try to go through the empty line that you are supposed to be able to board through, the agent ignores you until you either just step through or a passenger on the higher boarding group decides to let you pass ahead of them. Lastly AA just calls out boarding groups one after another even when they still have ten passengers in the last boarding group still waiting to have their pass scanned… After flying almost exclusively with AA for over 15 years and finally switching to UA, I find their board process a lot better in practice. AA’s may look better in principle but in practice it’s comically horrible.
a 5 minute difference in boarding time is immaterial if the flight leaves AND arrives earlier than scheduled.
DOT data shows that Delta still beats American and United’s on-time percentages by 3%+.
part of the boarding process also involves denied boarding and Delta handedly wins that category – having a 0.00% invol boarding percentage according to the DOT – the best in the industry.
Fixation with how people get on the plane is not about respecting time; it is about being convinced that one way is better than another – and yet in the statistics that actually matter, Delta consistently is at the of the industry – including in cancellation percentages. Only HA had a lower percentage of cancellations in 2022 than DAL – so EVERYONE is cancelling more than they did pre-covid.
Tim Dunn is the answer to the question no one asked. You have no credibility son. Everyone ignores or laughs at your posts
Laughable headline.
I’m AA gold. That’s boarding group 4 and I line up with the group. In the jetway an AA guy in a suit and tie, who looked like a teenager, told everybody to STOP. LISTEN.
Who’s in row 32? Row 32, come up.
Who’s in row 31? Row 31, come up.
Who’s in row 30? …
I had to stand and listen to this eardrum shattering yelling while in a narrow jetbridge. My row was at the VERY front of Main Cabin, so I waited until the last!
You call this respect?!
I dislike Delta’s process where they have added boarding pillars in some locations. United… seems to be a propensity for people to line up especially at the hub airports.
The one airline I fly frequently without an issue of much gate lice or people needlessly lining up 15 minutes early? Spirit. They have boarding lanes, and just 4 groups. Seems to be fairly well distributed. Or maybe people don’t fly enough to think they need to fight for overhead space (or charging for them means there are fewer?).
Groups 1 and 2 use lane 2*.
@NedsKid: Yes, charging for carryons (and more than for checked bags I think?) means they all fit.
It really annoys me that they need to put people in military in the first boarding group. They were not drafted for the job they signed up for it. I truly appreciate them doing the job, but we are in a voluntary time of service you were not drafted to do it. If that’s the case, then you should take firefighters and other first responders and put them up front of the line. As a retired military member I am not the only one that holds that opinion I’m sure.
I’m piling on for the ratio. Gary is usually spot on, but this time he is completely wrong. United groups 3-5 CAN’T lineup early, because there is nowhere for them to line up until groups 1 and 2 have finished boarding. As for boarding 5 minutes early, I’m happy to make that tradeoff in exchange for knowing long in advance precisely when United plans to start boarding. The United app clearly preannounces boarding times, and it is usually very accurate. Most of the other majors keep their boarding times secret, requiring you to loiter at the gate earlier.
This article, like so many on this website, is a giant waste of people’s time. I mean literally. Before some guy was complaining about pilot wages in a market driven environment and now this guy is complaining that airlines like delta and United give you a longer period before the boarding door closes to get on the plane. As if being group 3-5 on any airline doesn’t start using up all of the overhead space. So gate check, regular check, or stand in line if you are so worried about it. You know being the last group for any airline is going to be the same outcome regardless if you choose to stand in line. I often wait until the absolute last moment to get on if it’s busy, even if I’m group 1-2. when I’m last one on I get to not sit next to this guy for an extra 25 minutes and that’s the biggest win of my whole rant.
Gee who could ever see boarding taking longer and happening earlier now that FAs are being paid for it….like suddenly the process after all these years needs to take longer? Meanwhile I was boarding a Qatar airways flight in NY and it was absurd. Everybody standing in giant lines, couldn’t see the signs from the back, didn’t hear them calling out any groups. Had to fight thru the crowd and it turns out all those people waiting were economy passengers. Everyone was shoulder to shoulder. Was worst boarding I have ever seen. Thankfully on the Doha side it was one of the best experiences I have had.
Slow news day… Gotta invent things to write about
Prime exAAmple of Stockholm syndrome: Gary bought 7 million miles on the worst of the US3 carriers, and his brain is hallucinating to justify this.
I still like JetBlue for boarding. Because I buy Blue Basic, I cannot have a carry-on, just a personal item. The price is a lot cheaper so I buy a checked bag and an assigned seat each way and still save money. I can put more in my checked bag and board near the end of boarding because I am not a participant in the roller bag derby. By the time I board, most of the jostling for bin space is done and I only have to get the two people seated next to me out so I can sit in my window seat.
In Australia, Qantas and Virgin Australia typically board 737s and similar craft 25 minutes or less before departure time. They have a priority lane for business class and top tier fliers (combined), but there’s no group 1, 2, 3, 4, 5…
One thing that probably helps is that at most airports Down Under the rear door is available for boarding and deplaning (this means stairs parked at the gate). From my experience only about a quarter of the passengers use that option, but it certainly helps speed the boarding process overall.
United Airlines offers “boarding pens.” When flying United Airlines with an emotional support animal, you can wait for aircraft boarding in the United dog pen. In addition, to be competitive and enhance your pre-boarding experience, American Airlines instead offers all passengers a complimentary mosh pit filled with gate lice.
As others have said, American has, by far, the worst boarding process of any large airline, including Southwest. You have to fight through huge crowds to board with your rightful group.
Why the rush to board? I take a small carryon and wait until everyone else has boarded. Why stand in the jetway, then sit longer and breathe stale air while people whack me in the head with the stuff they drag on?
Why American have 30 min layovers causing you miss your connecting flight.
Gary has just confirmed what anyone paying attention has known for years – he has no idea what he is talking about. United hasn’t used the boarding system described in this post in -years- and Global Services and 1K are welcome to preboard “now or at their convenience”. Boarding lane 1 is the priority lane but GS and 1K preboard without using that lane.
As a UA 1K/1MM, I pre-board their planes and have never felt “disrespected.” In fact, the post completely misrepresented how UA boards their plane. @Lisa got it exactly right:
It helps to be informed…
@JT – I am not talking about the boarding process for 1Ks – I note in the post that 1Ks can board before group 1! (Indeed, any time)
Southwest is still best notwithstanding the operational problems they had.
As @Lisa stated “The blue lane always stays open for group 1 so they board when ever they like”, an option I have exercised countless times.
Still the boarding procedure you claimed to be the one UA uses was incorrect. Everyone remains seated until their group is called. There are no “pens”. Anyone can sit wherever they wish until their group is called. That some folks may wish to stand while waiting for their group to be called is their own business. It has nothing to do with UA’s purportedly “disrespectful” boarding procedure.
Being very tall, I like the bulkhead seats for the extra legroom, and often wonder why those aren’t boarded early, given that there’s no underseat storage or (on AA at least) reserved overhead space. If the overheads are full, that becomes a problem for the attendants.
Wrong again ! Group 1 (pre-boarding) is Group 1, which includes 1Ks. I’ll be happy to post my boarding pass from just yesterday when I traveled from ORD to LGA (on a Y ticket upgraded to F thanks to the incredible PlusPoints upgrade instrument). It says Group 1/seat 2A, though I pre-boarded…
1k and Global Services can board BEFORE Group 1…
But “SoUtHwEsT aNd ThEiR bOaRDiNg GrOuPs ArE CoNfUsiNg,” they say.
We don’t ever do carryon, so overhead bin space is not a problem for us. We board with small backpacks only and they go under the seats in front of us. It’s nice not to worry about or fight for overhead bin space.
And no our checked baggage has never failed to be there.
@ROBERT — There is no group before group 1. GS and 1K boarding group is #1. Okay now !
Pre-Boarding is just that…Pre-Boarding. THEN group 1,2,3,4….
https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/travel/airport/boarding-process.html
I hate being lied to. If they know the weather is too bad to fly, which was the case with 40 mph tail winds they didnt want to take off in, at midnight in San Francisco on 2/20/23, which they called “an electrical problem” when they finally cancelled, at 12:30 am. Why not tell us in time for us to get a hotel room and sleep for awhile before whatever morning flight they’ll announce and then delay, after you’ve made it back to the airport? Checking a bag on a compulsive liar airline is a huge mistake, if you like to brush your teeth, because no way will you get it back. Why is it so hard for them to tell the truth?
@Robert — The confusion is understandable because GSs’ and 1Ks’ boarding passes put them in Group 1, but they are pre-boarded. That is why it is important to listen to what gate agents announce. Below is a link to my BP from ORD to LGA two days ago: 1K/1MM/First class — Group 1
https://bit.ly/3pkKXGk
I’m not confused…
2mm, 1k, 31 yrs frequent flyer
My evidence speaks for itself…
You posted this:
DCS says:
May 5, 2023 at 4:58 pm
I note in the post that 1Ks can board before group 1! (Indeed, any time)
Wrong again ! Group 1 (pre-boarding) is Group 1, which includes 1Ks. I’ll be happy to post my boarding pass from just yesterday when I traveled from ORD to LGA (on a Y ticket upgraded to F thanks to the incredible PlusPoints upgrade instrument). It says Group 1/seat 2A, though I pre-boarded…
https://ericchester.com/when-you-treat-everyone-as-special-no-one-feels-special/uniteds-boarding-order/
Group 1 isn’t exclusively 1k and GS…..Group 1 also consists of Platinum, gold and other first or business class.
If you’re saying that because your boarding pass says group 1, and using semantics to back your argument….that’s stupid.
Click the link and explain to me where 1k doesn’t get special treatment boarding before group 1?
Darn it, back in the 1970s, it was predicted that we all would be flying in versions of the Stevens Aviation B747SP with at least 4 jet bridges to doors 1 L, 2L, 3L, and 4L. Today we should be utilizing B777s and A350s with jet bridges to doors 1L, 2L, and 3L for parallel/simultaneous loading and unloading of passengers. why the heck are we still futzing around with one jet bridge to door 1L?
Your reads are always hilarious and full of opinions, not fact. The thing I DO agree with is the fact that AA boards just 30 minutes early and leaves on time. As a former Delta FA, they’d make us board up to 45 minutes early just to make us wait 20 minutes for one or two passengers who have checked in but haven’t boarded. Now, I’m Gold with United, and they have two (2) lanes. I board with row 1 and they board about 30-35 minutes prior to departure (that includes pre-boards) and the door gets closed on time nearly every time. (Unless a plane is delayed due to Weather or Maintenance).
The started boarding time is shorter but if everybody boarded the plane early, Delta would take off early as well
You know what works great? Back to front worked beautifully for years. Then some MBA sitting in a cubicle had a disastrous idea. FC, Very High status and then rear rows to front rows. Everybody has “status” now so only Top Tier should board early.