United Will Introduce New Boarding Process
United Airlines is implementing a new boarding process called “WILMA” (loose acronym for window-middle-aisle) on October 26, 2023. This new process will be used on all domestic flights and some international flights.
The new process aims to speed up boarding, and was revealed in an internal memo as reported by TPG. United Airlines says that it is making changes now because average boarding time has increased by two minutes since 2019.
“It spreads people out along the aisle of the airplane so that more people can put their luggage away at the same time. That’s the main thing that speeds up the boarding process,” says Jason Steffen, an associate professor of physics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who designed his own boarding model a decade ago.
There’s a total of seven boarding groups. Passengers with window seats board first, followed by passengers with middle seats, and then passengers with aisle seats. The last boarding group is reserved for basic economy on domestic flights, as well as those who don’t have a boarding group on their pass, according to the memo. Families traveling on the same flight will board together.
The change will begin with passengers in the 4th boarding group. That means that First and Business Class passengers will see no change in their routine. Similarly, there’s no change for those with priority-boarding privileges, including travelers with disabilities, unaccompanied minors, active-duty military, and families with children who are 2 or under.
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