Going off script, an American Airlines gate agent in Dallas warned that passengers who tried to board ahead of their boarding group would have their carry-on bag confiscated and placed in the cargo hold. Is this a valid tool of coercion to promote order while boarding a flight?
American Airlines Gate Agent: Carry-On Bags Will Be Checked If You Try To Jump The Boarding Queue
I’ve written before about how American Airlines has a new system that “beeps” if you try to board before your boarding group is called (American Airlines has pre-boarding plus nine boarding groups).
But one agent at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) went a little further. View From The Wing shares an incident at DFW where passengers were threatened with consequences if they tried to board early:
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 flights I’ve been on!
Checking carry-on bags should generally not be necessary in newer aircraft with larger overhead bins, but AA (like its competitors) is often poor at enforcing item limits and passengers are often very greedy in placing two or even three items in the overhead bin.
Theoretically, this punitive measure would slow down boarding further since it takes time to tag a bag, but the hope would be that the threat would be a sufficient deterrent to promote order in boarding.
I’m generally not in favor of gate agents or flight attendants making up rules, but I think I’d be very curious to see a case-control study that gauges whether this additional threat (and actual enforcement) promotes more order in the boarding process.
CONCLUSION
I applaud the American Airlines gate agent for trying something–anything–to reasonably enforce order in the boarding process. I’ve mentioned several times before about how orderly boarding is in Japan. I know there are cultural differences, but how great would it be if passengers simply sat until their group was called instead of forming a gaggle in the boarding area?
She may not have the backing of American Airlines, but this sort of “penalty” for deliberately boarding early seems reasonable to me.
> Read More: American Copies United, Will Start Enforcing Boarding Priority…Will It Work?
I thought checking bags at the gate was intended to speed up boarding. They can print a bag tag instantly with the BP and it’s loaded in to the cargo hold as they’re closing out the flight. Essentially during garbage time. You have one less passenger looking for space, possibly needing help, possibly needing to swim upstream. If checking bags slowed down boarding AA GAs would refuse to check bags because the only thing they care about in the whole entire world is D-0.
If you don’t accept the misery that we forced onto you through our business decisions, we will force even more misery onto you.
The agent is either a Nazi or such low class that they don’t know how to act. The agent might be so deficient that they might be untrainable. What next? The agent threatens to punch customers if they try to board too early?
The nice agent grins and says “your boarding group isn’t ready to board yet”.
No Derek, the low class are the line jumpers and gate lice. Props to the GA for trying something (anything) to get the idiots who decide they can board anytime in line.
And please leave off using “Nazi” for actual times when it should be used. This doesn’t even come close.
Regarding boarding groups, I have seem something cool on some United boarding out of Newark: On flights where there is expected not to have enough overhead space for all the carry-ons, some Gate agents had made announcements requesting volunteers to check their bags, but for those who do, they are invited to board in Group 2, making it very attractive for people on the higher groups to check their carry ons.
That won’t work for me. I’d rather board towards the end and bring my carry on. Of course, there’s a chance that I’ll board near the end and they’ll still seize my bag.
This makes absolutely no common sense. People in the earlier boarding groups are unlikely to NEED to check a bag anyway as there WILL be overhead bin space available. People in later boarding groups will be out of luck by the time they board. Offering to check their bag *and* give them earlier boarding just means they simply get to sit on a plane longer. Either way they will likely have to check their bag if they’re one of the last groups to board and any personal items will go under the seat in front of them. They’re checking their bag regardless of *when* they do it as a direct result of their boarding group. So the only “benefit” of doing it earlier is to sit longer in an aluminum tube than they actually need to. This isn’t something for the passenger’s benefit; this is something to fool pax into helping the airline.
The airlines just need to say, “Everyone in Boarding Group X and later will need to gate check. Do it now to save time because we WILL require you to gate check and you WILL be stopped during the boarding process to do so as we are expecting to run out of overhead space.” Just call a spade a spade, airlines.
Umm, NEGATIVE! That would be unfair to the people who paid (through various means) to be legitimately in Group 2.
I didn’t realize AA and DL shared A gates at DFW. That piece is newsworthy, I think.
A is exclusively for AA, DL is at E
In her defense, maybe she snapped because customers don’t follow the rules and she’s sick of it.
@Travelgirl … +1 .
Although , she likely also has “strict rules” for the males in her life . Not a key to a good relationship .
I love the fact that someone is trying to enforce repercussions for people’s intentional bad actions. Props to her.
Decisive action must be taken to eradicate gate lice, cue-jumpers, and people taking the piss by bringing obviously oversized and/or excessive items into the cabin. This is a good start.
stuff like this makes me want to never get on a plane again. Former premier / elite tier member on multiple carriers. Now I think that if the engine doesn’t catch on fire, somebody will punch the stewardess or try to jump out the window. Flying has become a miserable experience.
Can’t the same thing happen to Jetway Jesus?
I’d vote for amputation.