Reducing passenger boarding time in airplanes: A simulation based approach

The increase in air travel puts tremendous strain on existing airport facilities, so turnaround times for airplanes are under constant pressure to be reduced. Part of the turnaround time consists of the time required for passengers to board the plane and install themselves in their assigned seats. It seems that this boarding time for passengers is much higher than allowed, but up to now has been largely neglected in reengineering projects. This paper investigates different boarding patterns, in order to detect to what extent boarding time can be reduced. Findings indicate quite some discrepancy between current practices and optimal patterns. The results are analyzed with regard to airline objectives as well as to customer objectives, and implementation issues are considered.