Posted by Matthew Susi.
I chose the following current events article from Fox Business: United Airlines to seat window passengers first to cut down on boarding time. The reason I chose this article is because I am a frequent United passenger and always hate the boarding process. United Airlines is working on implementing a new boarding process that allows those who are part of the economy club, with window seats to board before those with middle and aisle seats.
The idea of this is to save a whopping 2 minutes total of boarding time, per flight. “The seating plan, called WILMA, which stands for window-middle-aisle, will save up to two minutes on the boarding process for each flight, the memo said. The change will affect all domestic and some international flights.” The best part is, they are implementing this policy today, October 26th. United Airlines had previously used this window-first boarding process before 2017, but it had to condense passengers with middle and aisle seats into Group 4 when introducing its carry-on restricted Basic Economy product.
First-class, business-class, and pre-boarding passengers, including those with disabilities, unaccompanied minors, active-duty military, and families with children under 2 years old, will not be affected by this change. United Airlines is introducing this change as a response to the boarding process now taking an extra two minutes compared to the pre-pandemic period. They have conducted tests at different locations to ensure that the new method effectively decreases boarding time. Even though it is only saving 2 minutes, that makes you get to your vacation spot 2 minutes faster which passengers will love!
Matthew is a finance major at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University, Class of 2025.