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.
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?
Membership is free and takes no more information than commenting as a guest. Earn status points for good contributions, and see fewer ads as your status grows.