United Airlines Reimplements Boarding Procedure

Author Morty

October 16th, 2023 11:03 AM

Inside a United Airlines A 787 Dreamliner.

If you’re flying with United Airlines, be prepared for a change in their boarding process. The new process of boarding is supposed to be more efficient for economy passengers.

Now Boarding Our Economy Class. We’ll Start With…

United Airlines will keep the First Class and Business Class boarding the same. They will also allow those with pre-boarding go first (including those who need accessibility and medical accommodations).

However once the economy passengers are called, the order will change. According to USA Today, United Airlines will start boarding economy class by boarding window seat passengers first. Once all window passengers are on board, they will board those passengers with a middle seat. They then will follow them up with those passengers who have aisle seats.

Seven Boarding Tiers

United Airlines will do a six boarding group plane boarding. USA Today reports that the airlines boarding times are up a whole two minutes since 2019. They call this boarding method the WILMA method. WILMA is an abbreviation for window, middle, and aisle. We don’t see it, but it is.

They used to use this method all the way up to 2017. They’re systems would only allow up to four boarding groups. Now with modern systems, it allows for much more. In this case, United Airlines has seven.

Preboarding, which is meant for customers with disabilities, active duty military (thank you for your service), and families with children under the age of two. After preboarding, the groups start. The first group is their first class, business, premiere, platinum, premiere gold, and their star alliance gold members. Group 2 is their Premiere Silver, and Credit Card rewards members. Then they follow that with Group 3, which is their window seat passengers, passengers with exit row seats, and their non-revenue passengers. They follow that with group 4, which are their middle seat passengers. Group 5 is the aisle seat passengers. Then they follow that up with group 6 which is their basic economy passengers.

So if you’re planning to travel with United Airlines, what seat will you choose? Will you choose the window seat to board quicker? To most, this could be a deal breaker and cause them to fly with other airlines like SouthWest Airlines, who still uses the pick your own seat method.

We have more on this in today’s edition of a Few Things You Should Know!

Morty is the Executive Producer of “The Mike And Carla Morning Show” on 96.3 KKLZ. He's been a part of the show and station for 5 years. Aside from producing the morning show, he has served as production director for over 20 years. Those commercials you hear between the music, he produced a lot of them for Las Vegas! He loves music, playing guitar, all things Vegas Golden Knights, the Steelers, and his English Bulldog, Squish! He will talk forever with you on any of these things! Morty writes about peculiar news stories and Las Vegas happenings.

Stop Talking, I Just Want To Enjoy My Flight! Here's How To Shut 'Em Up

Flying. We all do it, but we all secretly loathe “those” people.

Does it annoy you when people on a plane stand up in the aisle before it’s their turn to get off? 63% said yes in a new poll. 41% also find it annoying when people clap when the plane lands without CRASHING. But neither of those things made the list of our TOP airline pet peeves. Here are our biggest annoyances when flying:

1. When the person behind you kicks your seat. Usually a kid, but not always.

2. Line-cutting. That includes people who try to cut at check-in, and at the gate.

3. When people are rude to airport staff and flight attendants.

4. People who stand on moving walkways, so you can’t get by. You don’t HAVE to stop walking on those things. But if you do, move to the right, because I want to feel like a gazelle!

5. People who crowd the gate before it’s time to board.

6. Someone asking if you’ll switch seats with them.

7. Strangers who force you into constant small talk on the plane. Apparently that’s not the WORST person you can sit next to though. The poll also found that 74% of us would rather deal with a nonstop talker than someone who STINKS. Duly noted.

Another fun fact – 54% would rather sit next to a dog than a baby. Well, I mean – that should be a given, right? But 55% would rather be next to a crying baby than a fighting couple.

When it comes to small talk, the next time you find yourself trapped by a yapper on a red eye to JFK, try one of these tricks –

-Carla Rea

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Put your finger on their lips, gaze deep into their eyes and say, "Let's cut to the chase and make sweet love in the lavatory."
Pat your carry-on and say, "Shh. You might wake my therapy tarantula."
Say, "Hang on a moment - my IBS is acting up." Then moan in relief.
Point up to the vent and whisper, "Shhh - they're listening."
Tell them that you have to take a quick call and then answer your shoe.
Roll your head back with your tongue hanging out, and hold that for the rest of the flight.
Wear a mask and tell anyone who talks to you that you "just got out."