American Airlines has started a trial of new technology aimed at putting an end to this annoying airport etiquette ignored during the boarding process.
A spokesperson for American Airlines says the new technology is being tested at select airports to prevent impatient travelers from boarding planes before their group is called.
The spokesperson said Travel + Leisure: ‘We are in the early stages of testing new technology used during the boarding process.’
“The new technology is designed to ensure customers easily receive the benefits of priority boarding and helps improve the boarding experience by giving our team greater visibility into boarding progress,” she added.
One commenter on Reddit claimed to have seen the new technology in action, writing: ‘It was amazing. I saw about five people get pulled out of line for trying to get on board before their group was called. It’s about time!’
“The new technology is designed to ensure customers easily receive the benefits of priority boarding and helps improve the boarding experience by giving our team greater visibility into boarding progress,” an American Airlines spokesperson said.
Although the airline has not revealed further details, a passenger flying from Albuquerque claimed to have seen the trial on Monday.
The passenger posted on Reddit that they saw other flyers trying to board in the first boarding group and received an error message when their boarding pass was scanned, followed by the gate agent telling them to move aside.
A commenter on the post also claimed to have seen the new technology in action, writing: ‘It was amazing. I saw about five people get pulled out of line for trying to get on board before their group was called. It’s about time!’
The new technology is being tested at both Albuquerque International Sunport Airport (ABQ) and Tucson International Airport (TUS), Travel + Leisure reported.
Many other users on the platform echoed the same experiences or were enthusiastic about implementing the new technology at airports.
A spokesperson for American Airlines says the new technology is being tested at select airports to prevent impatient travelers from boarding planes before their group is called.
One commenter wrote: “I will pay more to fly an airline that strictly enforces boarding groups.”
One wrote: ‘I’ll pay more to fly on an airline that strictly controls boarding groups.’
American isn’t the only airline to make major changes to the boarding process. Last year, following technological advancements, United Airlines updated their boarding process.
The change boosted economy passengers with window seats to Group 3, followed by middle seats in Group 4 and aisle seats in Group 5, in hopes of making the process more seamless.