British Airways Testing New Boarding Procedure

As if boarding an aircraft isn’t hard enough, British Airways is testing a new boarding procure that you may find on several short-haul flights out of London Heathrow in the near future.

Actually, a majority of the tests have been completed, devided into two phases:

• For the first phase, board the first four rows, followed by the remainder of the cabin
• For the second phase, board the aircraft rear to front

The details of the new trial are being explained to customers in a letter displayed at Heathrow:

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A boarding trial is to be held on the London Heathrow to [Name of Destination] departing services between 10 and 23 March, where customers will be asked to board the aircraft by row number.

There will be no Fast Track/ Priority boarding for any customers on these services during this time.

The trial is in support of our continued focus on punctuality and commitment to improving the customer experience and will help us to test and understand how we can make the boarding experience smoother, simpler and faster. There are no plans for permanent changes at this time and we want to reassure Executive Club Members that this is not a removal of the Priority Boarding benefit but a trial to understand how we can improve the boarding process which is important to our customers on this particular route.

Customers will board the aircraft as follows:

10-16 March
· Rows 1-4 then

· Rear to the front of the aircraft by row

16-23 March
· Rear to the front of the aircraft by row

Customers will receive a written explanation of the trial at the airport and announcements will be made on the ground.

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I find it interesting that they’re trying to test new ways to board the aircraft, yet mention they don’t plan on removing priority boarding privileges. If they don’t plan on removing them, it seems funny to me that they’d run tests without it, but I’m interested to see the results of this and what British Airways will end up doing as a final solution.