This weekend I flew to Atlanta for a conference focusing on
the state of textile production and the extreme harm it does to the
environment, along with the exploitation of human life that is occurring to
ensure you can only pay $19 for an article of clothing. The conference gave me
a lot to think about and exposed me to some facts I had never known. I also got
to meet some great people from around the world. But what occupied my thoughts
after the conference was something that’s been bothering me for a while: why is
inefficiency maximized when we board airplanes?
As anyone can see when boarding an airplane, the front is
filled first and there is a tendency to fill the aisles before the window
seats. The people way in the back are generally the last to board. I’ve
wondered about this and I spent the time waiting to board the plane discussing
it with a co-worker, who has more experience flying than me and corroborated my
observations with his decades of time spent on planes. We both agreed that the
inefficiency of boarding is maximized and it makes a lot more sense to fill the
window seats and back of the plane first. It also makes sense to board First
Class last, since everyone has to brush past them, which is probably annoying.
Furthermore, if you are paying $6,000+ for an airline ticket, wouldn’t you
prefer to board the plane and then take off right away? Why make First Class
sit there the longest before takeoff?
While waiting in line, we both agreed that the executives
and other rule makers in the airline industry know this, so there is probably
some reason why the inefficiency is maximized. I offered the idea that perhaps loading
takes longer than necessary so that it gives the airline workers more time to
prepare the plane for flight. But…this idea falls flat, due to the ease with
which boarding times could be adjusted. Just change the boarding time to
compensate for the pre-flight preparations and people will change what time
they leave home for the airport. No problem. So something else is happening.
I didn’t get the answer while standing in line or while on
the flight home. It was after I got home and took a long nap that the answer
appeared in my mind. It turns out that there is a reason for maximizing the
inefficiency of boarding an airplane. It’s related to what the airline industry
is concerned about the most: the safety of its passengers. I’m not saying this
is correct and the actual reason why it takes so long to board an airplane, but
stay with me…
If you board a plane nose first, then you are MAXIMIZING the
amount of time that the passengers are being monitored – by each other. The
airline industry uses the TSA and its own employees as filters, but why stop
there? The more you filter, the more you can catch. The people that board a
plane first are able to see everyone that enters the plane, and the people that
board last are able to see everyone that is already on the plane. Additionally,
by seating people in aisles before windows acts as a means of more observation,
since the people in aisles have to stand up, which allows them to be scrutinized
by the other passengers.
So there you have it. There actually is an explanation for
why the boarding of airplanes occurs in a manner that is maximally inefficient
with respect to time: it provides for an additional layer of security that the
airline industry doesn’t have to pay for (they also care about money).
