Why airlines are not interested in speeding up boarding: There are a few nuances
Boarding is one of the most difficult parts of an airplane flight, which frustrates many passengers. However, airlines are in no hurry to optimize this process to make it faster.
In the 1970s, the average turnaround time for Southwest Airlines, from the time the plane arrived to the time it departed, was only 10 minutes. Today, it is more like 45 to 55 minutes, CNBC reports.
According to government data, flight delays cost airlines and passengers about $33 billion annually. However, experts say that speeding up the boarding process is not really a priority for airlines as they have monetized everything about it.
The largest airlines have raised billions of dollars from their loyalty programmes, so it's critical that they remain sufficiently attractive to customers.
"The different boarding groups that we see today have come about because people value their priority boarding," said Kerry Philipovitch, former senior vice president of customer service at American Airlines. "So airlines are using this to generate more revenue and reward their best customers."