The Cattle Call at Gate 15 Is Taking Longer and Longer-Boarding plane times

Ever been waiting to board a plane, but first the airline has to go through a long list of passengers who have priority? First- and business-class passengers, frequent fliers, elite card holders, uniformed members of the military, families with children, those who hold credit cards affiliated with the airlines, passengers who paid for priority seats.

By the time coach travelers are called, the overhead bins seem to be already full.

Airlines have been boarding passengers since the first commercial flight, but as they have added new classes of seating to their cabins and new fees for priority boarding — all in the name of more revenue — they have slowed down the whole process.

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Boarding time has doubled over the last decades, according to research by Boeing. It now takes 30 to 40 minutes to board about 140 passengers on a domestic flight, up from around 15 minutes in the 1970s.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/01/business/airlines-are-trying-to-cut-boarding-times-on-planes.html?_r=1&hp

Someone on DU posted a story about the "elite" passengers getting priority boarding over people in wheelchairs. :grr:

It's an aspect of 1) squeezing more people onto each plane, and 2) allowing baggage on board

If they didn't let everyone carry-on three friggin' bags...

I swear those overhead bins have got to hold more luggage than the checked bags below.