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Comment by Jemaclus | Hacker News Reader

If I recall correctly, the slow part about boarding a plane isn't actually the boarding part. That only takes like 15 minutes. The unloading/loading of luggage, refueling, and restocking is what takes the most time. If you took the Mythbusters solution and boarded everyone as quickly and efficiently as possible, you would still be waiting around on the tarmac for another 15+ minutes for the plane to be ready for take-off. In fact, I believe that's why they don't use the most optimal board algorithm, because while you're attempting to board the plain, you think that other passengers are the problem and not the airline. (citation needed)

So I'm not super clear on what, exactly, this solves in that regard. If there were modular fuel tanks and some sort of cannon that shot your luggage from check-in directly into the luggage compartment, maybe... :)

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This is a patent for one element of a bigger system. Don't dismiss that part only because it does not describe all solutions to all problems.

Maybe the other parts are described in different patents or were determinded to be not patentable. Or they do not yet have a found a worthwhile solutino, but that does not mean they never will.

Also filing for a patent does not even mean they plan to execute on this idea in the forseable future.

The parent brings a valid point though. I'd really expect a modular luggage compartment would be a FAR more cost effective first step; the waiting passengers could have onboarded their luggage already to a waiting pod, and when the plane lands, it simply detaches its pods to be unloaded in parallel as the loaded new pods are attached. (Or a similar approach with fuel tanks) I openly admit to not knowing of any subtleties behind why you'd even want to swap a cockpit, it seems to me like one of the more static/easily left in place components, given you're only really "rotating" the pilots, if anything.

They already have and use those, they're called a "unit load device" [1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_load_device

Huh, thanks, those are neat; I honestly wonder why I've never seen them used in a lifetime of flying. Probably don't go on the right planes/trips.

I was always thinking, if they let people in only via front doors, why they don't let the passengers from the back enter first. If people enter randomly, the ones in the front are blocking everyone else while they're putting their luggage in overhead lockers etc.

Maybe this is because of what you wrote :)

Take a look on study below, with simulations of various types of boarding. Surprisingly random boarding is faster than back-to-front. Faster is outside seats first then middle. And the fastest in fact is outside first and back-to-front, but that would be difficult to force people.

http://menkes76.com/projects/boarding/boarding.htm

That's a pretty cool link, thanks for sharing!

JetBlue is the only airline I've been on that loads from back to front or (on one occasion I have experienced) from both the front AND the rear (it was at a tiny airport where we actually walked on the apron to a manual staircase at the rear door).

It turns out that the back-to-front is what they actually do now. I believe the most efficient method, as determined by the Mythbusters, is the WILMA (Window-Middle-Aisle) technique. Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss1S3-Kv6R8

Well it would be if they didn't fill the plane with "early" boarding options that all monetize, you've got your frequent fliers, your affiliated card users, your "business first" perk buyers, Etc. I was the first person in the first "regular" boarding group on a flight recently and I counted 62 people who were allowed to board "first" (and sitting all over the plane) for various reasons.

The problem with WilMA is that by the time they get to "A" all of the overhead bins are completely full. So those of us who prefer aisle seats end up being forced to gate check our carry-on bag.

As an aisle-preferrer, I sympathize and agree!

I'm waiting for the additional patent with detachable wings that will be refueled at the same time passengers board the detachable cabin and baggage is loaded in the detachable cargo.

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