"Rick Blaine" wrote in message
...
I had the opportunity to try out the new SWA boarding process this week.
For
those that don't know, SWA has replaced their traditional ABC boarding
swarm
with a more organized reserved place in line process.

Instead of being issued just a letter A, B or C, each passenger gets a
letter
followed by a number 1 through 60. For example, A45, B15, C3, etc. At the
gate,
there is a single line of poles with numbers on each side. One one side
1-5 is
listed on the first pole, 6-10 on the second with 26-30 on the last. On
the
other side, the sequence start with 31-35 and runs through 60.

When the time comes to board, each passenger with an A number stands by
the pole
with their number. This automagically creates two side by side lines with
people
in the order of the number on their boarding passes. Once every is
standing by
their pole, the agent boards that line onto the plane.

The process repeats with the B and C groups.

In general, people seemed to be able to figure out the new system with no
problems. One of my flights was very light - only about 30 passengers
getting on
the plane, so it was obvious that SWA is reserving the A1 - A15 slots for
their
new Business Fare passengers, as there was no one by the first 3 poles.

Is the new system better? Yes, I think it is. It gets rid of the swarm at
the
gate and the need to sit on the floor to reserve your place in line. You
can sit
in a chair anywhere in the area until just before boarding and that's a
good
thing.

The only negative I saw was that "A" isn't as "A" as it used to be. With
the old
plastic passes, there were 30 people in a group. When SWA went to the
printed
boarding passes that expanded to 45, but you could still board early by
getting
to the gate a bit early. Now there are 60 people in the A group and even
if you
check in exactly 24 hours early, you may have 15 people plus all the blue
card
people in front of you.

Seating remains unreserved on board.

--
"Tell me what I should do, Annie."
"Stay. Here. Forever." - Life On Mars


I just flew DAL-ABQ-OAK Friday night on Southwest and it was my first
experience with the new Southwest Boarding procedure. I, frankly, wasn't
impressed, as it is still a herd of cattle.