Qantas has begun rolling out “Group Boarding” for domestic flights, getting passengers to board in a specified order to minimise boarding gate chaos. Having seen this work badly for some of its sister airlines (hi American!), I was sceptical about how well this would work. So last week, I flew myself to Brisbane to see how it actually functioned.
Why Brisbane? It was the first city to roll out Group Boarding on 3 June; Perth followed last week, Melbourne this week, and Sydney kicks off on 25 June.
So I gave everything a week to settle down (a first-day test would only highlight teething troubles) and then took a day trip to Queensland to see how things were going. That way, I could try it out myself on my return flight and also observe it on other flights boarding that afternoon and evening. (Of course it was an afternoon. Not passing up free wine in the lounge!)
Qantas clearly knows it needs to warn folks about the new system. The day before, you get a text telling you that Group Boarding is running on your flight. (Currently, it’s only used on Boeing 737 and Airbus A330 services, which accounts for most capital city flights.)
Once checked in on the app, you can see your boarding group on your pass. As a Platinum frequent flyer, I’m in group 1, no matter where I’m seated. Other passengers will get their groups assigned by row.
If you’re old-fashioned and have a printed boarding pass, the group number is shown at the bottom, next to the boarding time.
Qantas’ advance publicity about this was a little sneaky. Its sample boarding pass (below) showed the group in the same font as everything else, but as you can see above, the word “GROUP” it isn’t actually part of the pre-printed pass.
Explanatory signage is everywhere too, complete with QR code.
So if you’ve managed to be unaware Group Boarding will apply, you’re really not paying attention. But harried passengers often don’t pay attention. What happens when you actually get to the gate?
There’s clear signage splitting the boarding area into two aisles, one for Groups 1 and 2 (the “Priority” groups, including Business, Platinum and Gold) and one for Groups 3-6. That split has been in place for some years; it just has numbers attached now.
Handily, if the flight isn’t using Group Boarding, these signs just get rotated to hide the group numbers. One glitch? I saw a flight with Group Boarding operating that had forgotten to rotate the signs. I guess that’ll get easier with practice.
You might assume groups board in order. That’s not entirely true. On the flights I was monitoring, Groups 1 and 2 boarded first, then 4 and 5, then 3 and 6.
Group 3 probably aren’t too happy. I imagine this grouping will be different if stairs aren’t being used for rear boarding (which is generally the case in Sydney and Melbourne).
Despite that potential for confusion, there wasn’t too much chaos happening. For the most part, passengers hung around the gate and waited for their announcements. My own flight boarded 10 minutes ahead of schedule, so when I reached the gate, we’d hit Groups 4 and 5. But I just slid into the Priority lane with no problems.
There was the odd person who tried their luck. “Not yet. Won’t be long,” the attendant told one ambitious passenger. Those aren’t ever words you want to hear at an airport, but no brawl ensued. (Your boarding pass apparently won’t scan if your group hasn’t been announced, but I didn’t see this happen.)
So despite my cynical headline, I really didn’t notice any major issues. I’m sure Sydney will produce some grumpy passengers who complain about it because they’re desperate for overhead luggage space, but what else is new?
For more in-depth Qantas investigations, check out whether Qantas was really the first airline to use the term “codeshare”.
| Angus Kidman: My honest review commitment * I only review products and services I’ve tried myself. * I pay for those products and services myself. * I don’t make any money from affiliate links or promotional deals – my reviews are an honest reflection of my experience. |
Leave a Reply