American Airlines is trying to improve its passenger experience, and become more competitive with Delta and United. That’s great, and I’m rooting for them. While big product investments are nice, often it’s focusing on the basic things that makes the biggest difference.
I want to give an example of some unnecessary and totally avoidable friction to the passenger experience, which I witnessed on a flight from Tampa (TPA) to Miami (MIA) a couple of days ago (admittedly it’s not the most memorable thing from the past couple of days, but this is a travel blog)…
In this post:
Flight boarding all groups at posted boarding time
The other night, I arrived at the gate for my American flight one minute before scheduled boarding time, and was confused to find that they were already boarding all groups, nearly all passengers were already onboard, and they were forcing all passengers to gate check carry-on bags.
At first I thought I just got my time mixed up, and that the mistake was on me. But nope, I had timed it correctly. For what it’s worth, this was an Airbus A319 departing at 6:59PM, and boarding was scheduled for 6:24PM, 35 minutes before departure. The A319 is American’s smallest narrow body plane, so 35 minutes should be more than enough time to board the aircraft.
Fortunately I didn’t have a carry-on bag, so the gate checking of bags wasn’t an issue for me. But still, I couldn’t begin to wrap my head around why they started boarding so early. Because a minute after I boarded, we just sat there for another 20 minutes, before some of the late arriving passengers showed up.
Airline reliability is important, and that’s not just about departing on-time, but also about trying to stick to a schedule. If you tell people you’re going to start boarding 35 minutes before departure, then that’s when boarding should start, in my opinion. Boarding early without any operational logic makes no sense to me, since it just causes this culture of unnecessarily crowding the gate area early.
A gate checked bag fiasco with a surprising ending
I witnessed an interaction on this flight that I found quite surprising. At the door, the flight attendant was greeting people with “how are you?” I simply nodded, because I wasn’t in a position to answer that without unloading, and couldn’t muster up the insincerity to say “great” (though I guess in the US, it’s a question we ask and answer without thought, and it’s just another way of saying “hi”).
Meanwhile the guy behind me answered with “horrible,” when asked. At first I thought he was joking, but nope, he genuinely claimed to be doing horribly, because they forced him to gate check his bag. In fairness, the guy was seated in Main Cabin Extra, which comes with preferred boarding, so I imagine he was screwed over by the boarding process starting early.
When he got to his seat, he noticed empty space in the overhead bin above his seat (and throughout many parts of the plane). So he went up to the flight attendant at the door, and explained there was still lots of space in the overhead bin, and asked them to get his bag.
I thought to myself “yeah, as if they’re going to do that.” Unsurprisingly, they said it couldn’t be done. But then the situation took a turn. He said “my laptop is even there, with a lithium ion battery.”
I’m not sure if this guy was being strategic, but I must say… well played, sort of. Suddenly they took him seriously, and asked for the information related to the bag. So they went to get his bag, and brought it to the door, but then it got even more interesting — “you need to take out your laptop, but you still need to gate check the bag.”
He was dumbfounded, pointing out that there was space in the overhead bin above his seat. Like, why would they force him to gate check the bag when there was in fact space? Clearly they just didn’t want to give in, and didn’t want to backtrack. The guy kept arguing with the crew, asking them give him one reason he couldn’t place the bag in the overhead bin.
At first I thought “you’re never going to win arguing with a crew, this isn’t going to end well.” But to my surprise, his persistence paid off, and he was allowed to place the bag in the overhead bin.
Bottom line
I think all too often we frame a good passenger experience in terms of whether there are seat back TVs, or what champagne is served in premium cabins. But often the single most important thing is just creating as frictionless and reliable of an experience as possible.
To me, reliability doesn’t just mean operating flights on-time, but it means operating in line with expectations. There’s no reason that flights should board before the scheduled time, especially when you’re selling early access to the overhead bins as a feature of certain tickets or elite status. That’s also true when you combine it with the proactive and overly aggressive gate checking of bags that we see.
This is of course minor in the scheme of things, but it was interesting to see such an unnecessarily complicated boarding process. I think airlines underestimate the extent to which this kind of stuff leaves people with a bad impression. I was surprised when the passenger actually managed to get them to retrieve his bag and place it in the bin, though, when he found space.
So…I decided to fly American from OKC to Columbia S.C., stopping in D.C. for a connecting flight. I was scheduled to land in Columbia before midnight, but now I understand they have a mechanical or crew issue. It’s so bad, that the desk attendant left, probably to avoid the confrontations from other upset passengers like myself. I will never fly American again, only Delta, Southwest, or United. 2 thumbs down!!
I am sorry American Airlines I don't trust any longer.They change my flight scheduled lucky I have no business to do in Tampa on Thursday 10/16/2025 Yet I love to stay just few hours longer but I rather have leave than being late for work on Friday 10/17/2025 I least will be in Florida earlier but I never will be ever attend church Sunday.I never use American Airlines again unless absolutely have too.The last time...
I am sorry American Airlines I don't trust any longer.They change my flight scheduled lucky I have no business to do in Tampa on Thursday 10/16/2025 Yet I love to stay just few hours longer but I rather have leave than being late for work on Friday 10/17/2025 I least will be in Florida earlier but I never will be ever attend church Sunday.I never use American Airlines again unless absolutely have too.The last time American Airlines prevented me from boarding in Chicago Ohara I lived there for one night because storms on the East Coast.Nor Eastern is coming Sunday 10/12 /2025 when I depart for Tampa Florida
They need to board the back of the plane 1st. I always fly 1st class and I wait till everyone boards to board and take my seat. I hate all the people standing over me spreading germs, and bumping into me w their carryon.
While I have been an AA loyal customer for years, a recent incident at DFW has me rethinking my choice. My flight from Dallas to Boston on Friday, 19 September was canceled. This was after being boarded and deplaned 3 times and 12 hours later. The best American Airlines could do for me was a flight that didn’t get me into Boston until 5:30 in the evening the next day. This was unacceptable because it...
While I have been an AA loyal customer for years, a recent incident at DFW has me rethinking my choice. My flight from Dallas to Boston on Friday, 19 September was canceled. This was after being boarded and deplaned 3 times and 12 hours later. The best American Airlines could do for me was a flight that didn’t get me into Boston until 5:30 in the evening the next day. This was unacceptable because it completely nullified what I was going for. I also lost two nights in a hotel room. I wanted reimbursement for my ticket and for the hotel rooms. I have been reimbursed for my airline ticket but have received no response for AA as to the reimbursement for my hotel stay. Update: October 7. AA has offered me an additional 5000 miles for my lost hotel reservations. This does not come close to making up for my loss. A moral and ethical company would make it right. I'm sad to say that is not apparently American Airlines.
I am a frequent flyer on Delta. However, since Delta could not deliver on non-stop flights, I booked with AA. The reservation process was a challenge and had to call them for seat assignments. It didn't give me the option. Fingers crossed that this is the only snafu that we have!!
Honestly, although his behavior was objectively bad, I’m glad he was successful. Gate agents and flight crew playing games with overhead bin space has gotten out of control. This is not as egregious as some ULCC gate agents who have tried to extort cash from people, but it’s still an unnecessary game. They charge for checked bags, they give you early boarding perks for being a credit card holder or having elite status, and one...
Honestly, although his behavior was objectively bad, I’m glad he was successful. Gate agents and flight crew playing games with overhead bin space has gotten out of control. This is not as egregious as some ULCC gate agents who have tried to extort cash from people, but it’s still an unnecessary game. They charge for checked bags, they give you early boarding perks for being a credit card holder or having elite status, and one of the byproducts of boarding earlier is more reliable access to overhead bin space. The overhead bins are there for the sole purpose of having carry on baggage stowed. Then they lie to people at the gate and say overhead bin space is full when they know it’s not. I would not mess around and lie about a battery in checked luggage to get them to retrieve the bag, or disobey flight crew instructions, but I’m glad it worked out this time and there was a small victory over the gestapo-like tactics gate agents and flight crew exercise in treating the overhead bin space like their own little kingdom.
I'm so glad I'm not based out of an AA hub. Out of all the airline horror stories you read about (from the big 3), AA is almost always the culprit.
This same thing happened to me on a flight Sunday. The flight attendant told me I could put my bag in. I was supposed to board in Group 1 but when I arrived at the gate at the boarding time they were on group 6. I was in Main Cabin Extra, first on the upgrade list for first class. The flight attendant told me they could remove my bag from the checked list but the gate agent came and took my bag off the plane which was stowed in the overhead bin.
several years ago I had an early flight JFK-LAX I arrived at the Admirals Club for a quick shower and then to the gate about 5 mins before scheduled boarding at which point the agent asked me "where were you??"
for some reason the boarding had begun quite early and was almost complete.
otherwise uneventful flight
6:30 boarding can commence 5-8 mins early but not 30 mins
Having read how American Airlines treats its customers, I thought I'd share my experience with you.
I recently flew with them on a transatlantic flight. I had a choice of airlines, but decided to try out American for the very first time. I booked & paid for my ticket last year, as I wanted specific departure times and seats. By getting in early this would be guaranteeed, or so I thought. Anyway, minutes before...
Having read how American Airlines treats its customers, I thought I'd share my experience with you.
I recently flew with them on a transatlantic flight. I had a choice of airlines, but decided to try out American for the very first time. I booked & paid for my ticket last year, as I wanted specific departure times and seats. By getting in early this would be guaranteeed, or so I thought. Anyway, minutes before boarding the flight for home, an alert appeared on my mobile, telling me that my seat choice had been changed. (I'd done the research beforehand and chose this particular seat when I booked.) No explanation at the gate was given...perhaps it was faulty, so was taken out of use. That's perfectly understandable.
Anyway, after the seat belt sign was switched off I was curious and went beyond the galley to part two of the cabin to take a look. It wasn't faulty as there was a person sitting in it.
So, it seems that someone was given preferential treatment!
I fired off an e-mail to their Customer Services about this, when I returned. No explanation was given, but I was offered ninety dollars towards my next trip with them. Nope, this isn't going to happen as they shan't be getting my custom on the next transatlantic flight.
Similar happened to me on AA recently. Arrived at the gate. They were literally paging me as I walked up. Everyone in the gate area was already boarded. I sat in seat at checked my phone thinking I had really screwed up. Board time on the app said 5:15 (not the flight time, mind you) and it was 5:17. They obviously started early and I thought what the heck is this about?
I purchase my ticket with Advantage points.
That part went extremely smooth.
I was able to cancel return flight and rebook my flight.
The issue came today. I looked onnthe App my flight was delayed by an hour. No problem. I was headed to lunch before my cousin took to the airport.
I saw on the App we were boarding in 40 minutes. The time had changed to departing 3 hours...
I purchase my ticket with Advantage points.
That part went extremely smooth.
I was able to cancel return flight and rebook my flight.
The issue came today. I looked onnthe App my flight was delayed by an hour. No problem. I was headed to lunch before my cousin took to the airport.
I saw on the App we were boarding in 40 minutes. The time had changed to departing 3 hours eairler from being delayed an hour.
The issue was no phone call or email. It was just on the App. I was so confused. I called and yes i had exactky 1 hour before the plane was leaving. This caused me a lot of Anxiety.
It turned out Great. We got home 3.5 hours eairler. Just stressful. Is this a typical thing ti do or it because i used reward points to purchase our tickets.
The jerkwad with the fictional laptop was causing more trouble than anything else. Some people have always got to think of themselves as much more important than anybody else. They're usually the worst company on an airplane.
So it sounds to me as if AA is encouraging people 1) to be "gate lice", and 2) to argue with the flight crew. Funny. I always thought we were NOT supposed to do those two things.
Airlines, agents, and crew do what’s most convenient for them, especially USAir…I mean American.
I had two similar incidents with AA in the past several months. Both had very early boarding times, well before the door should close, and what was all or close to "all groups" right from the beginning. The first time, a FA chastised the gate agent, telling him the crew was not ready for boarding. Both times, the gate agents scanned the area and firmly asked me if I was on the flight. It was...
I had two similar incidents with AA in the past several months. Both had very early boarding times, well before the door should close, and what was all or close to "all groups" right from the beginning. The first time, a FA chastised the gate agent, telling him the crew was not ready for boarding. Both times, the gate agents scanned the area and firmly asked me if I was on the flight. It was so early that I didn't want to squeeze into the ERJ145 any sooner than I had to, but I relented. I'll board when I want to board per your published policy. Back off!
It is absolutely obnoxious how American forces you to check your roller bag when there absolutely is overhead space for it. They also sometimes lie and say that the overhead spaces are full, when they are not. I read that the reason is to board everybody quickly and depart on time. Nothing to do with the actual space available. And also, when you have a connecting flight, they don't give you your valet-checked bag back...
It is absolutely obnoxious how American forces you to check your roller bag when there absolutely is overhead space for it. They also sometimes lie and say that the overhead spaces are full, when they are not. I read that the reason is to board everybody quickly and depart on time. Nothing to do with the actual space available. And also, when you have a connecting flight, they don't give you your valet-checked bag back after the first flight, they put it through to the final destination. And with American's tendency to book connecting flights close together, there is the possibility that luggage won't make it to that next flight. Also, now they are getting rid of the luggage sizers at the gate, which is really bad, because now they can just eyeball your luggage and say it's too big. Time to bring a measuring tape! I also had the experience where they were boarding everybody before the scheduled boarding time, which means you get to your seat, and somebody has already stuck their luggage in your overhead space. If American really wants to compete with Delta, they need to improve their friendliness and get rid of these obnoxious tactics.
Yes, God forbid they would want to board everybody quickly and leave on time.
I immediately theorized this is merely a response to the insanity that has befallen the act of putting so called carryon luggage into overhead bins. They are almost all way too big and having been hit at least one time on my head by a dropped suitcase (if you can’t lift it don’t bring it on!) and barely missed getting hit in the face by countless others as well as giving up my overhead space...
I immediately theorized this is merely a response to the insanity that has befallen the act of putting so called carryon luggage into overhead bins. They are almost all way too big and having been hit at least one time on my head by a dropped suitcase (if you can’t lift it don’t bring it on!) and barely missed getting hit in the face by countless others as well as giving up my overhead space where I had my underwear sized backpack to an idiot trying to squeeze their shit in overhead — just so we could freaking leave already! Well who can blame the airlines?! I say gate check the crap out of people.
Your “underwear-sized” carry-on goes UNDER THE SEAT …… not in the bins above! So you shouldn’t have even been in this situation. We fly all the time and regularly see small bags in the bins (where they are NOT ever supposed to be).
The early boarding thing just happened to us. We were in the lounge, relaxing until boarding time. About 10 minutes before the boarding time on our boarding pass, we walked to the Admiral's Club departure board, and it said the same time and gate as our boarding pass. We walked directly to the gate and arrived about three minutes before boarding, expecting to take our first-class seats in a minute or two. They were calling...
The early boarding thing just happened to us. We were in the lounge, relaxing until boarding time. About 10 minutes before the boarding time on our boarding pass, we walked to the Admiral's Club departure board, and it said the same time and gate as our boarding pass. We walked directly to the gate and arrived about three minutes before boarding, expecting to take our first-class seats in a minute or two. They were calling group 7!
Thankfully, there was still overhead space in first class, so we weren't harmed, but then, just like you, we waited with the door open for late-arriving passengers and ended up pulling away from the gate about 10 minutes late. I know they changed the boarding time to be more efficient, and that's fine, but they should at least stick to the time they show in the app and on the departure boards!
I can understand the frustration that passengers go through since I work in this industry... I can't tell you how many times people come on the airplane and take it out on me because they think I have something to do what went out there in the boarding area. I have no control over the mean and cruelness of some of these agents I cannot get off the airplane and go get your back. I...
I can understand the frustration that passengers go through since I work in this industry... I can't tell you how many times people come on the airplane and take it out on me because they think I have something to do what went out there in the boarding area. I have no control over the mean and cruelness of some of these agents I cannot get off the airplane and go get your back. I cannot lift your bag without risking injury in jeopardizing my own financial future also people need to understand if you can't lift it you need to check it but this escher maze in the boarding process I cannot make sense of and I don't try to. As far as American Airlines is concerned you can't make sense of it and don't try to.
YOU are in the wrong for not being on time. It was literally announced that American was extending their boarding times. It was on YOU to be on the gate when boarding started. IT SAYS WHEN BOARDING STARTS ON YOUR BOARDING PASS. Accountability is hard to come by these days. Sorry you are so tone deaf, you wrote a novel about it. Shitty blog, shitty writing, shitty story, and even shittier accountability. You’re a fucking clown.
So is the boarding time printed on the boarding passes correct or incorrect?
If it’s so shitty why are you reading and posting (ignorantly, BTW) on it?
I've seen various airlines, in Florida, board 10 minutes early due to fast approaching weather... rather than 2 hours late.
I think they’re all desperate. The only thing worse was the indifference of the TSA people when my carry on was inadvertently stolen from Security, while another bag, sat unattended for at least half an hour. This event delayed me from my flight, which boarded and departed early. I had to rebook for two days later and when I got to Rome I found out that Delta’s system never booked my connecting flight, nor had...
I think they’re all desperate. The only thing worse was the indifference of the TSA people when my carry on was inadvertently stolen from Security, while another bag, sat unattended for at least half an hour. This event delayed me from my flight, which boarded and departed early. I had to rebook for two days later and when I got to Rome I found out that Delta’s system never booked my connecting flight, nor had they loaded my checked bag on the plane. That was still at JFK. I’ll never travel without air tags again. Props, though, to SINGAPORE AIR who tracked me down through my pharmacy from Frankfurt, where the carry on had landed. They shipped it back to me at JFK and had delivered it before my subsequent flight. Delta dumped any responsibility for me not having luggage and specialized equipment for the trip I was on. It took 4 days to get my suitcase out of a seven day event I was attending.
For me, the thing that pisses me off the most about american is the fact that they have been increasingly been allowing their FAs to gate check carry on, leaving a ton of overhead space. It's frustrating because I have 2 carry on items (one CO and one personal)... Both of which have tons of things with lithium batteries. Not only that, but life support equipment too. One of these days, I'm sincerely hoping that...
For me, the thing that pisses me off the most about american is the fact that they have been increasingly been allowing their FAs to gate check carry on, leaving a ton of overhead space. It's frustrating because I have 2 carry on items (one CO and one personal)... Both of which have tons of things with lithium batteries. Not only that, but life support equipment too. One of these days, I'm sincerely hoping that they tell me to take it all out of my main carry on, cause it will end up in an empty gate-checked bag and be basically 100% of my bag SOMEHOW making it to the overhead bin above my seat. I swear AA FAs lack a brain and critical thinking skills. Then there's the overall lack of customer service. That's why my wofe and I are gon a spend our remaining miles, then swap to a different airline... Likely united, delta, or one of those part 135 carriers like JSX where you actually get truly taken care of.
Seems to me that you should always get to the gate earlier. While you're not wrong about the 35 minutes. If the aircraft is an A321 or 737 its 40 minutes. Perhaps the gate agents where confused. Getting to all groups in 5 minutes would be a stretch though if they only started 5 minutes earlier.
But they adjust the boarding time based on aircraft - so the boarding pass will tell you the appropriate boarding time for the size of plane.
I personally don't like wasting hours of time each year being early to a boarding gate if 90%+ of the time they aren't going to board until the published time (as they should).
But if you don't mind wasting your life at the gate, that's certainly your prerogative.
Ben,
You could not answer politely when greeted upon boarding? Please stay off my flights! You have no manners.
@ Jme -- My mother died that morning, and I was holding back tears. Please forgive me for not being able to bring myself to smile and say I was doing great.
Dude, the guy just lost his mother. Be a little empathetic please....
I can't count the number of times I've smiled and said good morning/afternoon/etc to a crew member on boarding who didn't even look up from their phone, assuming they were standing facing out of the galley.
Yeah no shit. It's more often than not these days.
now let's see if @Jme will have the bare minimum of manners to apologize.
Condolences, Ben. Reminds us that not all flights are happy, and we arrive in that metal tube in all sorts of different mental states.
@Jme, are you going to apologize to Ben now that you know about his mother, or did you just want to drop a nasty comment and leave?
He nodded an acknowledgement, wasn't rude or complaining. Please advise all of us what people need to do in order to not be kicked off your flights.
I was on a plane from Heathrow back to the US a few weeks ago. I was priority group 5 and they told passengers in 7-9 that they were going to have to check their carry-ons. I get my bag in the bin and put a small under the seat. When everyone was on, I noticed that I was the only one that put anything in the bin in my row and looking back, there...
I was on a plane from Heathrow back to the US a few weeks ago. I was priority group 5 and they told passengers in 7-9 that they were going to have to check their carry-ons. I get my bag in the bin and put a small under the seat. When everyone was on, I noticed that I was the only one that put anything in the bin in my row and looking back, there was a ton of room in most of the bins. I know they're trying to be efficient but I wonder how much wasted labor they're creating with being so aggressive on checking bags
Here in the UK we have another issue. At London Luton Easyjet have a terrible habit. When the gate number is displayed passengers go to the gate. The staff at the gate start "boarding" the passengers. The passengers go down to the door of the terminal to find that the door is locked which is not surprising as the plane as not yet arrived on stand. The line extends up the stairs. Last time this...
Here in the UK we have another issue. At London Luton Easyjet have a terrible habit. When the gate number is displayed passengers go to the gate. The staff at the gate start "boarding" the passengers. The passengers go down to the door of the terminal to find that the door is locked which is not surprising as the plane as not yet arrived on stand. The line extends up the stairs. Last time this happened an elderly passenger became ill due to the wait on the stairs and the plane was delayed due to this. I complained but the airline said it was not their problem but the handling agents!
American is my last choice of legacy carriers to fly and it's because of lousy customer service like this.
American lacks systematic design at, basically everything, let alone boarding group design. For this specific case, my educated guess is that they want to follow Delta (kudos to Mr. Tim!) and let paid front passengers feel the premium but turned out to infuriate EXPs and employees. After singling out "First / Business" group, American now has 10 boarding groups, the most across, well, 99% of all legacy carriers around the world. Unnecessary, does not make...
American lacks systematic design at, basically everything, let alone boarding group design. For this specific case, my educated guess is that they want to follow Delta (kudos to Mr. Tim!) and let paid front passengers feel the premium but turned out to infuriate EXPs and employees. After singling out "First / Business" group, American now has 10 boarding groups, the most across, well, 99% of all legacy carriers around the world. Unnecessary, does not make a lot of money, and made gate agents' life harder.
In addition of that, legacy AA gate agents love to announce boarding 5-10 minutes before, deteriorating the already bad planning before boarding even more.
Excellent article. You nailed the problem and the solution. Eliminate frictions. Gate agents are abusing their ability to require carry-on bags to be checked.
Oh boy…Flight attendant here…bag is tagged it goes in the belly…don’t care about your sisters wedding gift in your bag. Weight and balance is a real thing…don’t call me petty…remember FinnAir?
I weigh 6x my bag. What happens when I get up from my seat and go to the lav? You're talking nonsense. Not a good look.
Weight and balance is indeed a thing, but it is not relevant for one item (as pax weight is averaged & gussed anyway). But this story is more about that someone with priority boarding should never have to gate check their bag plus bags should not have to be gate checked if there is enough room in the plane.
@Brian, yes once a bag is tagged it’s “in the system” but it doesn’t account in weight and balance until it’s loaded on the plane. As an example, there could be 100 bags tagged for a flight, connecting on a delayed inbound. Those bags are in the system and will be tracked, but if none of those 100 bags make it, none will go into weight and balance.
There could still be some confusion to...
@Brian, yes once a bag is tagged it’s “in the system” but it doesn’t account in weight and balance until it’s loaded on the plane. As an example, there could be 100 bags tagged for a flight, connecting on a delayed inbound. Those bags are in the system and will be tracked, but if none of those 100 bags make it, none will go into weight and balance.
There could still be some confusion to show a “missing” bag in the system, but before ramp and ops start looking for it, they can see it’s either on a delayed inbound and will misconnect, or, in this case, they’ll see from the bag tag data that it was a gate checked bag and likely had the tag removed and ended up stored in the overhead bin.
Lucky, this is table stakes in running a reputable airline, not even being a premium airline (though that is obviously also a part of it). As a paying F passenger (and executive plat) on AA, I want a predictable time for boarding with group 1, putting my roller bag overhead near me, and getting comfortable.
Table stakes.
Remember AA MIA and gate agent.
Anything involving this 3 words is a customer nightmare
American serves it's shareholders, NOT it's customers. This is epidemic in US business. Shareholder value reigns supreme, consumers are just pawns
I’ve had amazing 5 star service at AA, horrible 1 star service, and everything in between. I fly a lot of regional AA flights, mostly operated by PSA. I can’t recall them boarding early. But they do seem to routinely board earlier than necessary given the size of the plane. Seems routine that the plane is fully boarded but we have to wait 15 minutes for the pilots to be ready. It also seems like...
I’ve had amazing 5 star service at AA, horrible 1 star service, and everything in between. I fly a lot of regional AA flights, mostly operated by PSA. I can’t recall them boarding early. But they do seem to routinely board earlier than necessary given the size of the plane. Seems routine that the plane is fully boarded but we have to wait 15 minutes for the pilots to be ready. It also seems like the gate agents for those flights pause only briefly between announcing boarding groups, which just makes the gate live problem worse.
I think the new contract now gives them half pay during boarding.
And this is rhe reason. If tgis is, in fact, part of their contract, they're boarding early so their pay can kick in. It's not about the passengers at all, but rheir paychecks. Not a good look, at.all, AA.
We were totally outraged when they made us give up our carry-ons because, "there was no more room in the overheads." Then they said that they would be checked through to our destination. Who does that? Why do you think we even have carry-ons. We had our medications, lap top, snacks, and other things we needed until we got to our destination. When I objected vehemently, I was told to go get another flight. We will never fly American again!
I've had the early boarding with AA a few times on international flights. Fortunately less carry on bags usually on those but recall one time in the UK them boarding over an hour before departure and they were actually calling my name as I got to the gate and it was still T-40 and then we just sat there at the gate 40 minutes until D0. Yes I really want to sit an extra 40...
I've had the early boarding with AA a few times on international flights. Fortunately less carry on bags usually on those but recall one time in the UK them boarding over an hour before departure and they were actually calling my name as I got to the gate and it was still T-40 and then we just sat there at the gate 40 minutes until D0. Yes I really want to sit an extra 40 minutes going nowhere before an 8h flight. Same has happened going to London from JFK before now. Like you I thought I had misread the boarding or worse departure time.
If you think this is bad, try flying British Airways. Last time flying out of Heathrow, they crammed as many passengers into a bus as possible, drove us from T5a over to a remote bay close to T3, to an A319 with its doors closed and lights off. Turns out the crew operating our flight were still on board an A320 which had arrived late. So they drove us back to T5, kept us on...
If you think this is bad, try flying British Airways. Last time flying out of Heathrow, they crammed as many passengers into a bus as possible, drove us from T5a over to a remote bay close to T3, to an A319 with its doors closed and lights off. Turns out the crew operating our flight were still on board an A320 which had arrived late. So they drove us back to T5, kept us on the bus for 15 minutes, then drove us back across the airport again once the crew had actually made it to our plane. Special kinds of incompetence.
The brainless BA apologist will disagree with you and claim you never set foot on a BA plane before then refer to what we all know as bogus SkyTrax rankings for how good BA is.
But yes, BA sucks.
Flying from PHL-BOS on AA is the only time I've heard gate agents screaming at full volume at the entire economy class cabin of an A319 to gate check their carryons (this was how the customer service interaction started, it's not like there was any back and forth beforehand). Of course the process took twice as long and we pushed back late.
I don't know if it's true but I'd heard that gate agents get a bounty for each gate checked bag. If true, this might explain why they were so persistent to check this passenger's bag.
That's Spirit that rewards their agents
Bounty should work both ways.
Agents gets a pay cut every open space in the bin.
Airlines should pay passengers who are forced to gate check but board to find open bins.
Sitting in First as an EXP (not happened yet as a CK) I've been forced to check a shoulder bag I carry. When put in sideways, which fits on all a/c other than CR7 and EMB145, it takes up less room than a roller board. But GA can't be argued with and I'm not going to take it out on a FA or request they intervene. Chalk it up to the joys of traveling.
...Sitting in First as an EXP (not happened yet as a CK) I've been forced to check a shoulder bag I carry. When put in sideways, which fits on all a/c other than CR7 and EMB145, it takes up less room than a roller board. But GA can't be argued with and I'm not going to take it out on a FA or request they intervene. Chalk it up to the joys of traveling.
Always get to the gate at T-45 because if something is going on you want to be one of the first to know. An experienced FF will know something is up well before a GA decides that maybe he/she will actually tell passengers there's an issue. Also, if a GA is trigger happy on boarding you won't arrive and find the plane half boarded.
In all fairness, similar happened to me at LAX on UA just last week. I am a 1K and was seated in F (paid). In this case it was a rolling delay though and they told everyone to come back at 3:45PM. I returned at 3:40PM and they were boarding Group One. For some reason the boarding alert I always get never arrived as well. No problem...stuff happens. BUT...when I went to the priority section...
In all fairness, similar happened to me at LAX on UA just last week. I am a 1K and was seated in F (paid). In this case it was a rolling delay though and they told everyone to come back at 3:45PM. I returned at 3:40PM and they were boarding Group One. For some reason the boarding alert I always get never arrived as well. No problem...stuff happens. BUT...when I went to the priority section where they preboard 1K etc they refused to let me board there and said it was over...sending me to the back of Group One. That is actually not protocol and any 1K can board at the pre boarding area at any time in my experience. I wasn't going to argue other than reminding them that this is highly unusual. Of course, F bins were completely full by the time I made it on at the end of Group One but the FA was nice in working it into a spot a few rows back in Economy.
Let’s get everyone back on track.
The boarding time is the boarding time. You should not be penalized in terms of boarding order by not camping out at the gate for some arbitrary amount of time prior to the published boarding time.
If there’s a delay, then send a push notification with the new boarding time as soon as that information is available. And make a reasonable prediction, not the earliest possible if...
Let’s get everyone back on track.
The boarding time is the boarding time. You should not be penalized in terms of boarding order by not camping out at the gate for some arbitrary amount of time prior to the published boarding time.
If there’s a delay, then send a push notification with the new boarding time as soon as that information is available. And make a reasonable prediction, not the earliest possible if all stars align (and certainly not earlier than the limits of possibility).
There should be no boarding early.
Doesn't this mean that the babysitters work even extra time without pay, since the time tending to passengers (including those who arrived at the gate when instructed, and are now frustrated) is off the clock?
I think the new contract now gives them half pay during boarding.
Then it's a conspiracy to have longer boarding time.
There's an easy solution to this: guarantee carry on bags through group 4 by policy. Gate check if there's no space after that.
Some days when I fly American, Delta or United, you could easily convince me it is their very first day in business.
I really can’t see the problem. Usually airlines DON‘T board at the stated boarding time as turnaround times are tight and the inbound might’ve been slightly delayed. I really like the idea that when they do have the opportunity to board early, they do. Don’t we all like a „boarding completed“, door closed and pushback at the published departure time or even a few minutes early?
And as far as gate-checking cabin bags is...
I really can’t see the problem. Usually airlines DON‘T board at the stated boarding time as turnaround times are tight and the inbound might’ve been slightly delayed. I really like the idea that when they do have the opportunity to board early, they do. Don’t we all like a „boarding completed“, door closed and pushback at the published departure time or even a few minutes early?
And as far as gate-checking cabin bags is concerned, I understand that they do that when the flight is full, regardless of whether the overheads are already full or not.
The guy mentioned in this post should have protested when they were taking his bag away from him, especially when he had a laptop in that bag.
This post sounds like a lot of hot air to me by someone who’s sulky, because he missed his „priority boarding“.
It’s one thing to make up time on a delay and to start boarding earlier than the originally expected delayed time, but if it’s the first flight of the day or on a long turn, there’s no reason to be almost fully boarded at scheduled departure time.
If the bins really had been full, there could have been a lot of customers who expected to board early who ended up without overhead bin space....
It’s one thing to make up time on a delay and to start boarding earlier than the originally expected delayed time, but if it’s the first flight of the day or on a long turn, there’s no reason to be almost fully boarded at scheduled departure time.
If the bins really had been full, there could have been a lot of customers who expected to board early who ended up without overhead bin space.
And why is it bad to be upset about missing priority boarding? It’s either an advertised benefit of being an elite in the airline’s program or something that a customer specifically paid for. If the customer wasn’t late, missing it on their own, I think they have a right to be irritated.
AA hates its customers. HATES its customers. Its often a competition among its hateful staff to see who can treat passengers the worst.
On my last two flights with American, they decided to skip beverage service, for apparently no reason other than they didn't feel like it.
@ Ben I’m cabin crew for another major US airline, and we’ve been repeatedly instructed not to accept bags that have already been gate-tagged, even if there’s space in the overhead bin. I get that it’s frustrating, and it looks like we’re just being difficult, but we’re not making up rules on the spot. We’re following company policy.
The reason we’re given is weight and balance for the cargo compartment. Once a bag is...
@ Ben I’m cabin crew for another major US airline, and we’ve been repeatedly instructed not to accept bags that have already been gate-tagged, even if there’s space in the overhead bin. I get that it’s frustrating, and it looks like we’re just being difficult, but we’re not making up rules on the spot. We’re following company policy.
The reason we’re given is weight and balance for the cargo compartment. Once a bag is tagged, it’s entered into the system as part of the aircraft’s checked baggage weight distribution. Moving it back to the cabin after that point messes with the numbers and requires adjustments that can delay departure.
Interesting, thanks for sharing. Still, even if not caused by the crew, the customer experience has not been taken into account when designing this process and that is the topic. But very good to know it is not decision of the crew
Come on, this makes no sense. My 10 lbs carry on will upset the balance of a modern jet?? Let's just call it what is is: an arbitrary rule.. ie checking all bags after a certain group number- sometimes immediately after first class. American has been the absolute worst about this. Gate agents claim the bins are full and it's mostly empty when you walk in. It's even worse upon arrive when some 90% of...
Come on, this makes no sense. My 10 lbs carry on will upset the balance of a modern jet?? Let's just call it what is is: an arbitrary rule.. ie checking all bags after a certain group number- sometimes immediately after first class. American has been the absolute worst about this. Gate agents claim the bins are full and it's mostly empty when you walk in. It's even worse upon arrive when some 90% of passengers on the plane start queuing in the jet bridge to retrieve their bags.
The one time I tried to fight back and ask for my carry-on back in order to make it to an early morning meeting on time -- when most of the overhead bin compartments were entirely empty (I have the pictures to prove it)-- I was threatened and faced the power trips that others referred to. I don't know how or why they get away with this.
@Girtbar, yes once a bag is tagged it’s “in the system” but it doesn’t account in weight and balance until it’s loaded on the plane. As an example, there could be 100 bags tagged for a flight, connecting on a delayed inbound. Those bags are in the system and will be tracked, but if none of those 100 bags make it, none will go into weight and balance.
There could still be some confusion...
@Girtbar, yes once a bag is tagged it’s “in the system” but it doesn’t account in weight and balance until it’s loaded on the plane. As an example, there could be 100 bags tagged for a flight, connecting on a delayed inbound. Those bags are in the system and will be tracked, but if none of those 100 bags make it, none will go into weight and balance.
There could still be some confusion to show a “missing” bag in the system, but before ramp and ops start looking for it, they can see it’s either on a delayed inbound and will misconnect, or, in this case, they’ll see from the bag tag data that it was a gate checked bag and likely had the tag removed and ended up stored in the overhead bin.
Is there any reason the captain cannot make an announcement that he is requiring the checking of bags for weight and balance due to cargo?
Communication is the key to any good relationship............... with a spouse or a customer.
Yes @Don
Captain is too busy going through checklists and paperworks.
If there is someway to leave all those duty and people to computer automation. ;)
A bad "policy" is dumped on FAs and gate agents to "enforce". If this were a weight/balance issue, leaving your seat for the lav would create an intolerable weight problem.
Airlines don't deserve our respect if they keep forcing their uniformed staff to lie to passengers, or worse, to talk nonsense and actually believe it. If you say "overheads full, must check bag" make sure it's true when you say it. If that's not possible,...
A bad "policy" is dumped on FAs and gate agents to "enforce". If this were a weight/balance issue, leaving your seat for the lav would create an intolerable weight problem.
Airlines don't deserve our respect if they keep forcing their uniformed staff to lie to passengers, or worse, to talk nonsense and actually believe it. If you say "overheads full, must check bag" make sure it's true when you say it. If that's not possible, then come up with a new plan. The current one isn't a good look.
If it we're a nonrevving pilot or flight attendant, you'd do it. I've witnessed this many times. Also w/b has a variance tolerance before things need to be recalculated.....something like 500lbs per zone.
Get to the gate 30min before the boarding time. I’m always happy when they start earlier in Florida. The Captain may want to get out earlier due to storms or other problems that may prevent departure.
So if a flight starts boarding 45 minutes before schedule departure time, you think the whole plane should be there 75 minutes before scheduled departure time?
What about customers who paid for a club membership? You think they should leave the club 90 minutes before departure to get to the gate that early?
What about connecting customers who aren’t even in the airport until 60-70 minutes before departure. Should they skip any trip to the...
So if a flight starts boarding 45 minutes before schedule departure time, you think the whole plane should be there 75 minutes before scheduled departure time?
What about customers who paid for a club membership? You think they should leave the club 90 minutes before departure to get to the gate that early?
What about connecting customers who aren’t even in the airport until 60-70 minutes before departure. Should they skip any trip to the restrooms or to get something to eat?
When you see hordes of passengers swarming the gate over an hour departure you think “good, this is exactly as it should be”?
60-70 minutes connect time? An AA hub is CLT and they have 35 minute layovers!
I've yet to see AA board every single group at once, but I often see them call all remaining groups after Group 1 when the plane is small.
just some hours ago, i flew Air Canada from Quebec to Toronto.
Gate agents were asking people several times and were quite persistant to check in cabin luggage, since it wont be possible to stow all of the luggage.
It wasn't enforced though.
I was the first person to board, after two handicapped persons and guess what:
The overhead bins of the first four (yes you read that right) rows were all...
just some hours ago, i flew Air Canada from Quebec to Toronto.
Gate agents were asking people several times and were quite persistant to check in cabin luggage, since it wont be possible to stow all of the luggage.
It wasn't enforced though.
I was the first person to board, after two handicapped persons and guess what:
The overhead bins of the first four (yes you read that right) rows were all already filled with crew luggage.
Sorry but in my opinion that's just not how it's supposed to work.
This is one of the reasons I switched my loyalty from AA to Delta (in addition to operational reliability, customer service, in-flight entertainment, and quality of lounges). I can't count the number of times I showed up at the American gate 5-10 minutes early to find they were deep into the boarding process. It’s infuriating. Given that they sell seats and "bundles" that include early boarding, it should also be grounds for a refund of these service fees.
Well played by that gate checker
Meh, frequent flyers always think they are super-cool, showing up EXACTLY when they think it’ll mean they can walk up to jetbridge and board like a boss. Sadly they also squeal loudest when the airline messes with their moves.
Isn’t efficient boarding good? Doesn’t the airline, along with customers already at the departure gate, prefer a less crowded area? Who prefers a plane load of customers all standing around, waiting for boarding?
And how do you know they think they’re cool? It sounds like you’re attributing something to them.
I’m not an elite with any FFP but I understand them being upset if the customer plays by the rules set forth by the...
Isn’t efficient boarding good? Doesn’t the airline, along with customers already at the departure gate, prefer a less crowded area? Who prefers a plane load of customers all standing around, waiting for boarding?
And how do you know they think they’re cool? It sounds like you’re attributing something to them.
I’m not an elite with any FFP but I understand them being upset if the customer plays by the rules set forth by the airline, only to find those rules arbitrarily changed.
Is anyone else concerned that this guy knew he had a lithium ion battery in his bag and checked it? There’s a reason they ask……
I have always found American Airlines has the most unruly and arbitrary boarding process of the US airlines (outside of Spirit Air and the old Southwest)
- Crowded gate areas full of people trying to skip their boarding assignment and standby passengers waiting for a seat
- Clearing of standby passengers way too early at the expense of confirmed passengers
- Lies about overhead capacity
How is Spirit's boarding process unruly and arbitrary? In my experience it's quite a bit better than just about any other airline - they don't gate check bags because, when you charge for them, people don't bring them. They don't run out of space, seldom make a bag get checked unless it physically won't fit, and the crew actually police the first few row bins to make sure only those sitting there put their bag...
How is Spirit's boarding process unruly and arbitrary? In my experience it's quite a bit better than just about any other airline - they don't gate check bags because, when you charge for them, people don't bring them. They don't run out of space, seldom make a bag get checked unless it physically won't fit, and the crew actually police the first few row bins to make sure only those sitting there put their bag up so the bulkhead folks have their bags close by.
Never had a problem walking up to a Spirit gate at the last minute, even if sitting in the bulkhead, then taking my bag on and putting it within 1-2 bins of my seat.
This post in factually inaccurate.
AA has a system that literally prevents early boarding, is one of the only airlines to do it, and works well. Also standby pax exist on every airline gate.
They absolutely do not clear standby pax early unless they see that the inbound plane of a late arriving pax is far too late to make the outbound.
Your 3rd point is accurate, but certainly not isolated to AA. I've...
This post in factually inaccurate.
AA has a system that literally prevents early boarding, is one of the only airlines to do it, and works well. Also standby pax exist on every airline gate.
They absolutely do not clear standby pax early unless they see that the inbound plane of a late arriving pax is far too late to make the outbound.
Your 3rd point is accurate, but certainly not isolated to AA. I've been victim on my own metal.
Source: work for a competing legacy and routinely non rev on AA. Have seen both systems work, I would take AAs system vs ours almost always.
That being said, I do find the STATION is more telling than the airline. Miami is well, Miami. Our gate agents in Miami are worse than AAs in STL, and vice-versa. MIA, LAX, ATL, PHL, EWR all have a 30% chance of getting a rude GA.
Common sense sometimes takes a back seat in these situations. Good for that guy, I guess.
Different situation but reminds me of the time I was on a DL flight from ATL and we got diverted from LGA to JFK due to weather. Landed at JFK, pulled up to a gate, the door was open, and they said "everyone remain seated, we're going to conduct the flight from JFK to LGA." I was sitting in...
Common sense sometimes takes a back seat in these situations. Good for that guy, I guess.
Different situation but reminds me of the time I was on a DL flight from ATL and we got diverted from LGA to JFK due to weather. Landed at JFK, pulled up to a gate, the door was open, and they said "everyone remain seated, we're going to conduct the flight from JFK to LGA." I was sitting in first (a minor celebrity was sitting behind me) and I said "uh, the door is open right?" "Yes." "So if I don't have a checked bag I can just walk right off the plane, right?" "Uhhh...." "Let me ask this another way, if I walk off the plane are you going to stop me?" "No." "Okay then, thanks and have a good evening."
Common sense!
Yesterday our flight AC1823 CUN-YYZ pushed back fully 30 minutes before schedule. All passengers and crew seemed delighted by this. I thought it was unnerving. Isn't there an implicit promise in an airline's published schedule? And in other things they publish, like the "policy" that you must be at the gate 15 minutes before departure? Doesn't that imply that if you are at the gate 20 minutes before departure, you can fly? It should be...
Yesterday our flight AC1823 CUN-YYZ pushed back fully 30 minutes before schedule. All passengers and crew seemed delighted by this. I thought it was unnerving. Isn't there an implicit promise in an airline's published schedule? And in other things they publish, like the "policy" that you must be at the gate 15 minutes before departure? Doesn't that imply that if you are at the gate 20 minutes before departure, you can fly? It should be possible, on a non-full flight like this one, to comply fully with the airline's published deadlines and fly the published flight. I'd feel better knowing that if I get to the gate 20 minutes before departure (5 minutes before the deadline) the flight will not have left long ago.
But, then again, an airline can know every booked pax has boarded.
"Booked"? What about walkups? What about last-minute redemptions? They say there's a flight at 2. Be at the gate by 1:45 and you're good. So you make decisions based upon that, meet the deadlines, only to be told they left early. I think that's a problem.
I don’t know if this is a TSA rule still, but I was told once the bag is tagged with a white tag it is a violation to untag it as it belongs in the cargo pit now. It’s a dumb rule, but we were always told never to untag it as staff. But this whole checking bags when there is more than enough room has got to stop. There has to be a better way.
I believe you are correct. Once it’s tagged it’s gonna ride downstairs.
It’s not a TSA rule. Bags on regional flights are tagged and then brought back up at the destination all the time.
The issue is knowing what screening the bag has gone through. The bags tagged at the gate for regional flights have gone through TSA screening already. Bags checked in the lobby have not. In this case, the bag had also gone through TSA screening already.
Several times I’ve flown first and as the last to board they tag my bag just in case - then tell me if there is space to just take it on board but it’s tagged in case there isn’t. There nearly always is space, so then they just take the bag tag off and presumably? remove it from the checked luggage list. Delta… but either way it is possible
HARD HARD HARD pass on AA on all fronts. Plus even though I am usually in boarding group 1 and 2 for Star Alliance (AC) and One World (AY) I always show up 15 min before boarding starts to ensure that they do NOT take my bag.
Viva aerobús does in Tijuana all the time. They post boarding 40 minutes prior but will begin 1 hour before. I’ll show up right at boarding time and they’re already doing final boarding calls, only for me to have to gate check my bag (when I bought a cabin bag with group 1), flight is already fully boarded. Yet we still sit there waiting for our set departure time with the door open. I get...
Viva aerobús does in Tijuana all the time. They post boarding 40 minutes prior but will begin 1 hour before. I’ll show up right at boarding time and they’re already doing final boarding calls, only for me to have to gate check my bag (when I bought a cabin bag with group 1), flight is already fully boarded. Yet we still sit there waiting for our set departure time with the door open. I get why they do it to help us leave on time, but also very annoying cuz I usually time my airport stuff to always show up right at boarding time.
Boarding process overall has become a zoo in the US. Just last week gate agent for Delta asked for passengers that needed extra time to board to board first, even before first class. Guess what? More than 10 people just walked in, no questions asked. Nobody with a wheelchair, nobody with a cane, nobody limping, just walked in. So, you can simply feel you “need extra time” to board and suddenly you have the plane...
Boarding process overall has become a zoo in the US. Just last week gate agent for Delta asked for passengers that needed extra time to board to board first, even before first class. Guess what? More than 10 people just walked in, no questions asked. Nobody with a wheelchair, nobody with a cane, nobody limping, just walked in. So, you can simply feel you “need extra time” to board and suddenly you have the plane all to yourself and pick whatever overhead bin space you want. Several first class passengers nodded their heads in disbelief since you could see none of those passengers needed extra time but were simply gaming the system. Gate agent didn’t say a word.
In ZRH when departing from a remote Gate (B) they always start boarding early. I never was able to use the dedicated Business class shuttle and had to queue all the way. This might be a way of LH-group to prevent SWISS from looking more premium then them…
If only Robert Isom had to go on TV to apologize for American's failure to be punctual by boarding early as the Japanese train executives did when the train left 25 seconds early.
Ridiculous. American is an airline that hates its customers.
There will nearly always be one or two stragglers who show up as boarding is about to end (I’m one of those) so they can’t leave anyways… why create all the unnecessary chaos?
Also I have noticed gate agents getting more and more aggressive gate checking bags almost to the point of a power trip. I’m usually in first so i can keep my bag but it seems more and more planes leave with plenty...
There will nearly always be one or two stragglers who show up as boarding is about to end (I’m one of those) so they can’t leave anyways… why create all the unnecessary chaos?
Also I have noticed gate agents getting more and more aggressive gate checking bags almost to the point of a power trip. I’m usually in first so i can keep my bag but it seems more and more planes leave with plenty of space for 10-20 more bags. Rather than count bags they just check every bag in the later boarding zones
Exactly people forget punctuality is not just about being late it's about not being early to.
This point was made painfully clear to me years ago by the VP of my organization. My project team finished a multi-year, multi-million dollar project 2-3 months early. We were proud and were feeling pretty good about it. Our VP publicly chewed us out for finishing early. Predictability is more important than finishing early.
F*****k American Air - they had us change gates 5 times involving trams to different concourses!!
Two answers, firstly is human nature. The flight and cabin crew see the opportunity to go home early. The ground staff are heavily pressured by airlines to ensure on time performance, so if there's an chance to board early and increase their odds of an on time departure, they'll take it.
The second is operational. Maybe the flight arrived early thanks to strong tailwinds, on the return leg they become strong headwinds and so...
Two answers, firstly is human nature. The flight and cabin crew see the opportunity to go home early. The ground staff are heavily pressured by airlines to ensure on time performance, so if there's an chance to board early and increase their odds of an on time departure, they'll take it.
The second is operational. Maybe the flight arrived early thanks to strong tailwinds, on the return leg they become strong headwinds and so not departing early could lead to a late arrival and missed connections (ok not so relevant in such a short domestic sector). Perhaps the airport has strictly enforced fees on how long the aircraft can stay parked for before additional charges kick in. Perhaps the company is short of aircraft back at their hub due to technical problems or weather delays elsewhere in the country so they're really pushing their staff to bring back the aircraft early and minimise delays through the rest of the day.
Ultimately the problem here is poor communication
And if the cabin crew are not paid until the door closes, their interest is having boarded completed as soon as possible, whether or not that is as quickly as possible.
Why don't they just leave an hour early then?
@ Chris; stupid comment! In that case they would at least arrive an hour earlier at destination. So nothing to do with payment.
Then you’d arrive at your destination an hour early just to end up sitting on the tarmac for an hour without a gate assignment.
By the way, everybody’s special. That’s why there are ten boarding groups.
I sympathize with you but I'm surprised you are surprised. If the plane is ready earlier, they board earlier because of the fear of a non-ontime departure. Common at LAX.
They'll clear the upgrade list early sometimes and if you aren't at the gate when they call your name, they skip you. Common with AA.
Weird indeed. I am glad the pax insisted.
I still don't understand why carriers in the US need 35mins to board any narrowbody, while JAL can fully board a T777 in 30 mins.
Because the self-loading cargo elements in Japan are more co-operative with each other and with the airline staff. :-)
And because the airline staff aren't trapped in a "policy" quagmire, defending the indefensible against the unwelcome hordes of (gasp!) actual, ya know, paying pax.