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Comment by jakub_g | Hacker News Reader

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 :)

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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!

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!

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).

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