United Airlines will start boarding window seat passengers first in an attempt to speed up boarding. After boarding window seat passengers, this will be followed by middle seat passengers and then aisle passengers. This policy will take effect on October 26.
This new policy is known as WILMA which stands for window, middle, and aisle. WILMA was tested at four domestic locations and a hub airport.
By boarding window seat passengers first, the airline can save up to two minutes of boarding time during its trial. However, even with this policy, multiple customers on one reservation such as families are still allowed to board together.
Window Seat Passengers First
This will be implemented on United’s domestic flights plus some of its international flights. First-class and business-class passengers will not be affected by the new policy. Also, United didn’t change the pre-boarding group that includes people with disabilities, unaccompanied minors, active-duty military, and families with children 2 years old and below.
The change comes at a time when the airline needs to implement better boarding efficiency measures. However, this boarding practice isn’t entirely new. It was used by the airline before it was changed in 2017. However, after seeing longer boarding times, United decided to reinstate its boarding policy. According to United, “boarding times have increased by up to two minutes since 2019.”
This policy was also timed ahead of a busy holiday travel season. Given the delays and cancelations last year, a speedy boarding process could help ensure on-time departures.
Bigger Issue Than Just Boarding Time
Even if this shortens the boarding process, there is a bigger issue that needs to be addressed. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced this summer that the agency is actively investigating several airlines, criticizing their “unrealistic” scheduling practices. And to make matters worse, there’s a shortage of commercial pilots and air traffic controllers.
