Priority boarding on QF domestic - what is the story?

[Oneworldplus2]

c) If there are just too many premium pax for the above to work efficiently then they need to roster an extra an extra ground staff member to be the number 2 boarder. There will probably be screams from management re the extra expense of one more staff member but if they really want PB to succeed they have to do it.

Which is what I said QF should do earlier on in this thread but got shot down....

 

[pshepvic]

I'm currently onboard DL1321, after flying on DL944 earlier today, and saw PB work perfectly both times with Delta. So it's not just DJ and AA that can manage to make it work properly! Can't say I was too impressed with the Delta lounge though...

(Loving the wifi onboard by the way!)


Sent from my iPad using Aust Freq Fly app

 

[samiam]

IMHO the solution for QF's PB to work all the time not just some of the time they need to do the following things:

a) Standardise all gates at all airports to always have the general boarding queue to the left & ensure the computer is stationed there & keep the PB queue to the right. It has to be consistent.

Maybe I'm L/R dyslexic - wouldn't that cause confusion for dual airbridge boarding - J pax in the PB queue on the right then 'crossing over' to the left once through the glass doors, and vice versa?

 

[simongr]

Strange experience at MEL last night. Originally flying from Gate 12 we were moved to Gate 11. The boarding queues were set up like this (plebs in black, PB in red):


Gate 12---------------------------Gate 11

--------------------- ----------------------
-----\------------------------------/-------
------\----------------------------/
-------\--------------------------/



People were sort of in the right queues. But when the switch happened this happened:

Gate 12---------------------------Gate 11

--------------------- ----------------------
------------------------------------/-------
-----------------------------------/
----------------------------------/


It did quickly sort itself out. The gate arrangement doesn't really help there either as the seats are behind the service desk but the PB lane entry is in front of the service desk. So pax who don't know any better wouldn't even see the entry to the PB lane.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Maybe I'm L/R dyslexic - wouldn't that cause confusion for dual airbridge boarding - J pax in the PB queue on the right then 'crossing over' to the left once through the glass doors, and vice versa?

Haven't seen the dual aerobridge boarding in action yet so can't comment. Not sure what would be less confusing for pax:

a) to always have general boarding to the left & PB to the right irrespective of whether dual boarding in place or not
b) to have PB to the right unless using a dual aerobridge in which case it's to the left

 

[simongr]

Wouldnt it be better just to have PB to the left all the time?

This is how CX do it - but just realised that QF do it to the right on int'l flights.

 

[amaroo]

Wouldnt it be better just to have PB to the left all the time?

This is how CX do it - but just realised that QF do it to the right on int'l flights.

Anyone who believes that QF struggle with PB concept should try BKK - it is total bedlam.....:shock:

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Anyone who believes that QF struggle with PB concept should try BKK - it is total bedlam.....:shock:

that is true... but the bedlam is quickly sorted out by the dual air bridges in most cases

 

[amaroo]

that is true... but the bedlam is quickly sorted out by the dual air bridges in most cases

We went through twice (to & from LHR) with BA in F and the whole scene was chaotic. Once in the scrum that is the air-bridge they just scream out F, J, PE at you get the pleasure of pushing forward on the left side. Many, many comments as you bash into the others stuck in the queue.

Once you hit the oasis of the dual bridge it's instant relief

 

[ajw373]

that is true... but the bedlam is quickly sorted out by the dual air bridges in most cases

Except in Bangkok where they have dual air bridges. The problem there of course is people enter the holding area and then there is little to no check once the doors open. Though sometimes there is someone there checking passes to ensure only those called are allowed through.

 

[ozmille]

Anyone who believes that QF struggle with PB concept should try BKK - it is total bedlam.....:shock:

Was waiting in the queue couple of months ago behind some First and J pax and the gate agent made the call for people with infants and people needing assistance and everybody jumped up and started squeezing in front of us. Pretty impressive

 

[JohnM]

Wouldnt it be better just to have PB to the left all the time?

This is how CX do it - but just realised that QF do it to the right on int'l flights.

Yes - it's bizarre. I was travelling F SYD-LAX a few months ago with PartnerJohnM (PG) and PartnerJohnM's daughter (NB) both travelling in whY. I took them through the F PB lane but we had to cross across two other lines once in the aerobridge to enter the a/c through the F door. Then I got abused with them saying they were not even going to look at where I was sitting (1A ). And I thought they'd like to see it... :mrgreen:.

Is anyone at QF really thinking about what they're doing?

 

[Oneworldplus2]

Anyone who believes that QF struggle with PB concept should try BKK - it is total bedlam.....:shock:

So true. Boarding in BKK was chaos.

 

[dfcatch]

It's not AA and DL that do it, and do it well.

IME it works well also on UA and AC (and others, but I'll restrict my comments to those I've used in recent times).

 

[simongr]

A very successful QF405 today enormous queue in the main queue and just a few people in the PB lane - this is exactly how it should work - also only calls for J/OWE/WP - not OWS this time.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

A very successful QF405 today enormous queue in the main queue and just a few people in the PB lane - this is exactly how it should work - also only calls for J/OWE/WP - not OWS this time.

I think whoever did the spiel for the flight that included OWS call was getting mixed up with the old PB 'board at your convenience' PA. OWS are not included in the wording of the new PB announcements provided to staff.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

I think whoever did the spiel for the flight that included OWS call was getting mixed up with the old PB 'board at your convenience' PA. OWS are not included in the wording of the new PB announcements provided to staff.

Why don't QF just automate the message and remove the human element? Always baffles me why some airlines do and some don't for the safety vid as well.
Generally I think the less QF crew talk (especially on board) the better.

 

[Leumas]

Generally I think the less QF crew talk (especially on board) the better.

I don't mind as long as it's not some self-serving, patronising scientologist 'pilot'...

:mrgreen:

 

[richie9x]

Had a strange instance of priority boarding at MEL today for QF632. Most passengers at the gate were sitting down before boarding call was made. The gate agent made the boarding call with the bit about platinum and business class can use the priority lane. Most people stood up and started forming a line behind the priority lane, there are only ever a couple of platinums normally on that flight and J was half full so at most should have been 8 people in the priority lane. I doubled checked to to be sure i had my lanes the right way around and I did. I think it just came down to people following the crowd.

So I picked the normal lane as it only had 2 passengers waiting in it.

 

[tuapekastar]

On QF613 the other day BNE-MEL I arrived from the lounge after boarding had commenced. The signs were there, but at first glance the two lines seemed almost to merge into one. Eventually got myself into the (much shorter) priority line, but there were some people in front of me who I was fairly sure should not have been there (they had a separate issue which meant they had to go off and have something else done anyway). But it was definitely far more sparsely populated than the general line.

Notwithstanding that it did not take me long to get my BP scanned, two things stand out for me:

1) The signage is not clear/prominent enough. There is a very large 'Premium' sign on the RHS which spells things out OK, but it faces sideways and people jumping into a queue, if slightly back from this sign, cannot read it until almost adjacent to it (I did not hear the announcement). Then there is a much smaller sign facing 'forwards' which says 'regular' (or something similar) with a small arrow pointing left, and priority (or premium) with an arrow pointing right. IMHO this is too small and placed at a point where people who have been lined up in the 'wrong' queue for some time are not going to remove themselves and re-queue in the correct line upon reading it.

2) To reinforce it, QF needs to reject people if they are in the wrong queue. I know this slows down boarding (and makes people irate, but hey, they need to get used to it ) and they are keen to get away on time, but as per the old saying, once you shoot a few, the rest will get the general idea. I think QF should make a conscious and concerted effort for a while to reject people in the wrong line (I don't mean bar them from boarding, just send them to the correct line) - this should have a positive impact on ensuring people take notice of which boarding line is the one for them. Short term pain for long term gain. They may already be doing this but I have not noticed it.

If 2) was done, then 1) may be sufficient as far as signage goes, but the signs are the front line as far as this process goes. Not everyone pays too much attention to, or is at the gate for, the announcement, and then it becomes a follow the leader situation, and the gate staff seem reluctant to 'reject' people in the incorrect queue.

It is working to a degree, but IMHO needs some tuning.