If you’re a frequent flyer in the United States, you’re probably familiar with what a mess boarding a flight can be. It starts 30-50 minutes before departure, there’s a lot of yelling from the gate agent, people crowd around as if it’s a competition to see who gets on first, and then a bunch of bags often have to be gate checked.
Well, I just wanted to contrast that to the boarding process on a recent domestic Japan Airlines flight, which was the opposite extreme.
In this post:
Japan Airlines’ efficient domestic boarding procedures
In a previous installment, I wrote about my Japan Airlines domestic first class flight from Sapporo to Tokyo, on the carrier’s Airbus A350-900, which features 369 seats. This is Japan Airlines’ primary domestic aircraft, and it’s also the carrier’s highest capacity aircraft, as it’s purpose built for domestic flights.
What’s pretty impressive is that Japan Airlines begins boarding these jets 15 minutes before departure. So for my 8:05PM flight, boarding started at 7:50PM. As anyone who has been to Japan knows, punctuality is important. So it’s not that they start boarding 15 minutes before departure and take a delay every time, but instead they do so with the goal of not wasting anyone’s time, and departing right on schedule.
Japan Airlines’ boarding process is quite simple, and consists of four groups:
- The first group is those requiring extra assistance
- The second group is first class passengers, oneworld Emerald members, and oneworld Sapphire members
- The third group is those seated in window seats, in the rear of the aircraft, and in the emergency exit rows
- The fourth group is everyone else; interestingly, Class J passengers without status are in the last boarding group (this is the carrier’s middle cabin, with premium economy-style seats, but it’s not a proper business class)
How does Japan Airlines pull off such efficiency?
Why does boarding in the United States have to feel like entering a store with a great deal on Black Friday, while in Japan it’s calm, and almost feels like a performance? There are often multiple flights per hour between Sapporo and Tokyo, so ahead of my flight, I enjoyed watching the boarding process of some other flights, to see just how efficient it is (since I boarded at the start of the process for the flight I was on).
First of all, you’ve gotta love the precision and politeness of boarding in Japan. You have a bunch of gate agents standing around constantly checking their watches, and then exactly when it’s 15 minutes prior to departure, the boarding process starts, with all the gate agents bowing. Then again, that level of precision and respect is evident across society in Japan.
But how is Japan Airlines able to pull off boarding in 15 minutes, while in the US it often takes 45-50 minutes to board a comparable jet? The way I view it, there are several factors at play:
- Boarding gates are well staffed, so that there’s no shortage of people to help customers
- There are three self boarding lanes, where you scan your boarding pass, so it keeps everyone moving
- Passengers stay seated until it’s their turn to board, follow instructions, and only board when their zone is called
- Boarding isn’t commoditized like in the US, where boarding almost seems as much about stroking the egos of elite passengers and providing benefits to credit card customers as it does about getting everyone on the plane efficiently
- Boarding groups are not only simple, but are logical, with window seat passengers and those in the rear boarding first
- Boarding happens through two jet bridges, and there are limited restrictions regarding which passengers can use which jet bridge; that way you essentially have four pathways to board (two jet bridges and two aisles)
- There are surprisingly few wheelchair passengers; I won’t get into theories here, but there’s no denying that wheelchair boarding is the most time consuming
- While passengers can take carry-ons, they’re much more reasonably sized than in the United States, and people are limited to one item
It’s just amazing how boarding is so much faster, so much more efficient, and also so much more stress free. The process almost works itself out. I also can’t help but feel like US airlines have created the monster that is their boarding process, through a combination of having too many zones, not enforcing carry-on restrictions, constantly threatening that people who board late will have to gate check bags, etc.
Bottom line
Boarding a flight in the United States vs. boarding a flight in Japan is like being on two different planets. One is inefficient, stressful, and almost feels competitive, while the other is efficient, stress-free, and feels collaborative.
While I’ve flown Japanese airlines many times before, this was the first time in years where I’ve flown a wide body on a domestic flight, which is where the boarding starts 15 minutes before departure. It’s also efficient on international flights, but generally starts 30 minutes before departure.
Anyone else as impressed by Japan Airlines’ 15-minute boarding process as I am?
We had exactly the same experience last Christmas flying the reverse route on an ANA 773. It was a similar time and felt utterly stress free. I noticed that many didn’t have rollers which must have sped up the process. It was incredible.
This is cultural. In the US people in Group 9 feel the urge to run up to the boarding lane as soon as the first wheelchair is boarded, then stand in the middle of the lane blocking boarding, then completely not understand the process of finding your seat and finding a place for your bag, then sitting down and shutting up Or the self entitled first class boomer that stands in the middle of the...
This is cultural. In the US people in Group 9 feel the urge to run up to the boarding lane as soon as the first wheelchair is boarded, then stand in the middle of the lane blocking boarding, then completely not understand the process of finding your seat and finding a place for your bag, then sitting down and shutting up Or the self entitled first class boomer that stands in the middle of the aisle going through their bag trying to find god knows what-after all they're already onboard. You can't cure stupid.
Took same flight in business, and, yes, I boarded last.
When it comes to tourism and transportation, Japan is just light years better...
Having studied boarding processes extensively across multiple different countries and cultures, my conclusion is that whatever process you use, the proportion of exception processing dictates the time required.
Exception processing includes anyone that isn't simply able to board in a line with everyone else. That includes special assistance, children, wheelchairs, elites, gatecheck bags, etc..
You can board the entire flight all at once, but if everyone simply stands in line and moves at a...
Having studied boarding processes extensively across multiple different countries and cultures, my conclusion is that whatever process you use, the proportion of exception processing dictates the time required.
Exception processing includes anyone that isn't simply able to board in a line with everyone else. That includes special assistance, children, wheelchairs, elites, gatecheck bags, etc..
You can board the entire flight all at once, but if everyone simply stands in line and moves at a constant pace without oversized luggage, you will complete the process faster than any complex algorithmic process throws up.
I was on a full Korean air a380 that boarded in about 25 mins.
But I am a Diamond.
The unspoken rules and culture of Japanese society make this possible. But if you had to live in Japan long term you might start to find these rules oppressive in daily life. Maybe this is the tradeoff.
Boarding in the US is disorganized and stressful, but maybe it's because we have individualism and flexibility in our DNA, rather than cooperation. And not having to pay attention to things that we don't think are important,...
The unspoken rules and culture of Japanese society make this possible. But if you had to live in Japan long term you might start to find these rules oppressive in daily life. Maybe this is the tradeoff.
Boarding in the US is disorganized and stressful, but maybe it's because we have individualism and flexibility in our DNA, rather than cooperation. And not having to pay attention to things that we don't think are important, but which takes a little bit away from everyone else's experience.
You can't fix or change these things with just a "I wish we could make this specific thing better" without sometimes changing some of the fundamental unspoken rules of a society.
"there’s a lot of yelling from the gate agent"
Nah, American communication is just everyone yelling at everyone all the time.
The rest of your story is basically one American guy being overly surprised about how things actually work if everyone just follows the rules for once.
Lagos when a flight is delayed
I was at haneda once when my flight was delayed an hour due to atc.
Calm and almost silence apart from English guy berating a staff member. There was a storm passing. Then his partner pulled him back. Apologised to the employee and there were words in his ear.
Then there are stupid people everywhere
In every country that I've boarded an aircraft, it is the inexperienced traveler who doesn't know the drill that is the problem. They invariably crowd the boarding area. "I'm sorry. We're boarding group 1. You're in group 9." Occasionally, I'll see a gate agent do an excellent job at boarding management and will thank them.
I would change "inexperienced" with "stupid" in your sentence.
this is the same country where a nearly full version of this same plane sat burning on the runway at HND as the passengers all sat patiently waiting for crew instructions.
The Japanese are an incredibly conforming, community-based culture and yet they are also the most homogenic of any industrialized country - there is little ethnic or social diversity.
Ben proves that he is an American with its reviews of the past week - picking...
this is the same country where a nearly full version of this same plane sat burning on the runway at HND as the passengers all sat patiently waiting for crew instructions.
The Japanese are an incredibly conforming, community-based culture and yet they are also the most homogenic of any industrialized country - there is little ethnic or social diversity.
Ben proves that he is an American with its reviews of the past week - picking apart the things about each culture that he likes but unable to see the whole and appreciate all cultures equally.
The Japanese have been some of the most warring people - perhaps not by individual choice since few humans seek out war - but by their leaders - in Asia. and yet they have managed to build a social fabric that is very welcoming of foreigners and catering to foreign business even w/ countries that they subjugated and still hold vestiges of animosity.
I get Ben didn't bother to stop in one of the museums in S. Korea that deal w/ Japanese occupation.
The Japanese are fascinating people but they are just a prone to weaknesses as every other culture.
The fact that they allocate so few seats to a premium product that so few buy even at such a low price - and don't see pigs as any higher on the evolutionary scale than cows or chickens - proves how unAmerican Japan is and how American Ben is
Imagine if Delta merged with the Japanese government, and made it more premium!
The UK is one of the most warring countries. That is what made English so widespread. It beat out Spanish and Portuguese as well as French. Arab countries are also warring but there were stalemates so no one big country. Jews are also warring but the State of Israel is relatively new.
Jews are not f— warring. Don’t compare them with the incumbent Israeli government. Maybe do some research into the Spanish Inquisition and world war 2
The best society in the world is Singapore. I am referring to the people and not the government, though the government is decent and low in corruption.
America is fairly high but not the best society or government. So is Japan. A number of other countries are decent.
Delta is not the best airline in the world.
The society is best and government is decent and low in corruption because propaganda under nepotism works.
The most importany thing is that people don't block the aisle. Stand in front of your seat if you need to unload/load stuff from/to carryon or place it in overhead compartment , not next to it on the aisle.
The first sentence could replace the United States with Italy. Milan Malpensa was something else.; yelling, tearing down the flexible barriers, pushing and people falling over one another. Kind of incredible to watch but very stressful to be part of!
That applies to the whole of Europe. And I don't invite you to visit any African country.
Yeah, the key factor is the "follow instructions" part.
The sign doesn't say anything about window seats in Group 3.
Too many demanding DYKWIA.
Me and my entitlement first.
Technically in US also boarding is done within 15-20 minutes (boarding starts in US half an hour earlier, and gates close 10 minutes prior).
Also in Japan having extra staff means their labor costs are lower, which isn't a good thing because it reflects poorly on how they're paid.
“Also in Japan having extra staff means their labor costs are lower, which isn't a good thing because it reflects poorly on how they're paid.”
It doesn’t have to mean this at all. What a strange assertion. It could mean JAL spends more operational expenses on labor at the expense of their margins. It could also mean that the cost of living, and salaries in Japan in general, is lower. It could mean so many things.
It could also mean that Unions are costing consumers more, just like distributors , middlemen etc. cut that crap out and the world is a much simpler place.
More staff does not automatically mean low wages. What a bizarre conclusion to make.
That shows that random boarding is ok. This is random boarding except rear window seats first.
Actually, preboarding last is the fastest because no margin of error is needed. Just leave after the last disabled person is seated
Not even an issue in most places in the world…