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Home  >  News • United Airlines  >  New Aircraft Boarding Procedure At United Airlines
NewsUnited Airlines

New Aircraft Boarding Procedure At United Airlines

Matthew Klint Posted onApril 29, 2020April 28, 2020 8 Comments

Through at least the end of May, United Airlines is avoiding zone boarding and will instead board by rows.

United Airlines has used zone boarding for years. After the merger with Continental, it briefly tried boarding by rows (as Continental did) but in less than a week reverted back to boarding by zone.


> Read More: United Shuns Continental and Reinstates Zone Boarding


United Airlines Boarding Groups

Up until this week, United boarded flights in the following order:

Pre-Boarding

  • Unaccompanied minors
  • Customers with disabilities
  • Uniformed members of the U.S. military
  • Families traveling with children age 2 and younger
  • United Global Services members
  • Premier 1K members

Group 1

  • Premier Platinum members
  • Premier Gold members
  • Star Alliance Gold members
  • Premium cabin passengers
    • United Polaris
    • United First / Business

Group 2

  • Premier Silver members
  • Star Alliance Silver members
  • Customers who have purchased Premier Access
  • United Club, Explorer Card, and Presidential Plus cardholders

Group 3-4

  • Economy Plus passengers
  • United Economy passengers
    • Generally, window seats get Group 3 and middle + aisle seats Group 4, though travelers on a single itinerary board together in the highest applicable boarding group
  • Non-Revs

Group 5

  • Basic Economy passengers (no carry-on bags permitted)

New Boarding Experience On United

In an effort to promote social distancing and avoid unnecessary clogging of aisles, United has adapted a new boarding procedure.

Pre-boarding will still include the same groups (military members, customers with disabilities, families with small children, Global Services, and 1K members).

But after pre-boarding, gate agents will board the plane from back to front, calling five rows at a time.

With reduced loads onboard, the hope is that this will speed up boarding in addition to avoiding slow-downs in the jetway or onboard.

CONCLUSION

With loads so low, I don’t think back-to-front boarding is nearly as burdensome as on full flights. That said, I don’t expect this method of boarding to last once travelers start returning to the skies.

If you are flying this week on United, leave a comment below if the new boarding process is faster.


image: United

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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8 Comments

  1. Sexy_kitten7 Reply
    April 29, 2020 at 10:27 am

    Uh what about first class??? Need those pdbs!

    • Jim Reply
      April 29, 2020 at 12:17 pm

      there’s a pandemic, your drink (if United is even still offering them), can wait.

      • Jerry Reply
        April 29, 2020 at 1:50 pm

        Relax. I think that was pretty obviously a joke.

      • Kevin Reply
        September 27, 2020 at 9:46 am

        Flying today sep 27th. The process is a little better I believe in terms of reducing the clogging of the jetway as well as the aisle. However for passengers with status, this means they board last! Don’t believe that they will continue to travel with Utd given this change.

  2. Greg Reply
    April 29, 2020 at 2:29 pm

    Premiers other than 1K’s don’t get preboarding?

  3. TJ Reply
    April 29, 2020 at 6:52 pm

    Yes They continue to copy cat. Delta was doing this 2 weeks ago when I flew. TWA my god I miss them always did this. United seems to have so many people in pre-board group that they should just announce pre-board, now everyone else. To the one guy that said to the first class passenger that his pre flight cocktail could wait, Well he paid or earned that seat. First means first. Cocktails are expected.

  4. Pingback: Economy Will Now Board United Flights Before Premium Passengers - Air Headlines
  5. Pingback: United's New Boarding Process Eliminates A Credit Card Benefit - View from the Wing

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