The art of figuring out the most efficient process for boarding passengers aboard an airplane has occurred almost as long as the time when commercial aviation was first launched. Boarding dozens — or even hundreds — of passengers aboard a narrow metal tube with wings is no easy task; and that is regardless of the boarding process which is implemented. As of the year 2019, the process still has yet to be effective…
Branded Boarding Order By Delta Air Lines: Simplified or Complicated?
…until now, as Delta Air Lines recently revealed its new Branded Boarding Order system while simultaneously declaring that boarding passengers by zone “will soon be a thing of the past” by essentially adding two more of the obsolete “zones” to the boarding process — and coding those obsolete zones by color based on the official color palette used for the logos and uniforms of Delta Air Lines.
The new Branded Boarding Order process becomes effective as of Wednesday, January 23, 2019.
“Branded boarding builds on Delta’s latest boarding enhancement, the addition of zone 4 earlier this year, specifically for Basic Economy customers”, according to this article written by Kathryn Steele for Delta News Hub. “This change resulted in customer satisfaction scores improving dramatically for the reduced number of customers in zone 3, and improving in every other zone, including by double digits for the Main Cabin zones. Basic Economy customers are notified during the shopping experience that their carry-on bag may need to be checked at the gate, free of charge, which helps manage expectations for checking bags at the gate. This practice will continue with the introduction of Delta’s new branded boarding order.”
One Reason I Do Not Like the Branded Pillar Boarding Process
Originally primarily the domain of low-cost carriers such as Southwest Airlines and ValuJet Airlines, what is known as the branded pillar boarding process has now also been adopted by legacy carriers such as United Airlines and Delta Air Lines.
The branded pillar boarding process incorporates pillars which are branded with the groups or zones to which passengers have been assigned in order to expedite the boarding process in general — and if you listen to carriers such as Delta Air Lines, the process has been a proven success:
“The latest upgrade to the boarding process features branded pillars to create four parallel lanes, keeping customers out of the walkway and providing a separate queuing area for Premium customers and those needing special assistance”, according to this article written by Ashton Kang for Delta News Hub. “The airline plans to roll out this interim solution to additional airports if customer feedback continues to be positive.”
One reason why I do not like the branded pillar boarding process is because once passengers start queuing long before their groups or zones are called, other fellow passengers tend to act like lemmings and follow suit — and long lines suddenly form. This means that if you want your chance at having space available for your belongings in the overhead storage bin above or near your assigned seat by the time you board the aircraft, you stand a better chance by standing in line early before the queue grows too long — which could possibly mean significantly less time relaxing either seated or in an airport lounge.
Although the older boarding process may not have been perfect, I usually was able to remain seated until my group or zone was called; and I was able to be one of the first to board the airplane within my group or zone — ensuring that I have space available in the overhead storage bin above or near my seat virtually every time.
Summary
So let me get this straight…the process of boarding passengers of Delta Air Lines is being simplified by adding two more zones which are coded by a palette of colors?
Delta Air Lines is famous for changing the definition of the word enhancement — to the point when many customers hear that word, they perceive negative connotations rather than positive ones. Is the airline attempting to do the same with the word simplified?
I will leave the predictions of who wins and who loses as a result of the new Branded Boarding Order process to René de Lambert of Renés Points; but as with René, this new Branded Boarding Order process reminds me of the useless advisory system which was coded by color and introduced to the public by the Department of Homeland Security of the United States on Tuesday, March 12, 2002…
…and was quietly replaced by the National Terrorism Advisory System effective as of Wednesday, April 20, 2011.
How much do you want to bet that this new “simplified” process will suffer from a similar fate — especially because it will ultimately not have solved the ages-old problem of efficiently boarding passengers aboard an airplane?
All photographs ©2016 and ©2018 by Brian Cohen.
