Good luck. Qantas changes its boarding process

 

Qantas is introducing a new boarding process for domestic flights in four of the country’s biggest airports to reduce the time customers spend lining up at the gate and make it faster for them to be seated onboard.

Yeah. Good luck with that. 

Anyone who travels regularly knows that Australians are incapable of following the simplest of instructions. 

Even been on a flight where passengers are asked to stay seated until those with connections can get off first?

The new approach, referred to as Group Boarding, is already used by many airlines overseas but this is the first time it’s been adopted in Australia.

It follows a series of “successful” trials in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth which found the process helped contribute towards flights departing on time.

Group Boarding allows customers to board within smaller groups, rather than queuing up with all passengers waiting to board at the same time.

Customers will be allocated to one of six boarding groups which will be displayed on their boarding pass. The groups are determined by cabin, Frequent Flyer status, and seat position in the aircraft.

Signage and announcements at the gate will let customers know when it is their group’s turn to board.

My guess is that many passengers will mill aimlessly around the departure gate - and some just ignore their boarding group instructions. Pleading deafness, ignorance or stupidity.

Group Boarding is being rolled out progressively from today at Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne and then Sydney Airport, for domestic flights operated by Qantas’ Boeing 737 and Airbus A330 aircraft.

Qantas Domestic CEO Markus Svensson said Group Boarding was the most significant change to the airline’s boarding processes in a decade.

“We’re continuing to look for ways to respond to pain points and improve the travel experience for our customers,” Svensson said

“Group Boarding is designed to minimise the time our customers spend waiting to board and allows them to get settled more quickly.

“We know how important on time departure is to our customers, so this process is also about doing everything possible to ensure we depart on time.”

With so many flyers unable to find their row without assistance I am not hopeful.