United Airlines Changes How It Boards Planes: Window Seats First

NEWARK, NJ — Many air travelers already cherish the window seat when they get on a plane. Now, United Airlines passengers have another reason to sit there: they get to board their flight first.

This week, United – which has a hub at Newark Airport – officially switched to the “window, middle and aisle” (WILMA) system, which it says will save up to two minutes per flight. That may not sound like much, but to an airline, it can mean big bucks, experts say.

For some passengers, the routine won’t change. The first boarding group will still include customers with disabilities, unaccompanied minors, active military members and people flying with children 2-years-old or younger. They’ll be followed by passengers with premier access and priority boarding privileges in groups one and two.

When the economy passengers finally get their chance to board, that’s when the new policy will kick in. People with window or exit row seats will board in group three. They’ll be followed by passengers with middle seat tickets in group four, then customers with aisle seat tickets in group five.

Families and passengers on the same reservation will board together in the highest applicable boarding group, United says.

What will this mean for baggage, especially carry-on luggage? And will it mean that passengers in middle and aisle seats stand a greater chance of having to check their carry-on bags? That remains to be seen, SimpleFlying.com reported.

Some experts have also questioned whether the change will have much impact on day-to-day operations – or whether United and other airlines should be looking elsewhere if they want to save time boarding their planes.

“When United first introduced the WILMA method on its U.S. west coast shuttle flights in the early 1990s, there were far fewer priority boarding groups,” a travel analyst told CBC/Radio-Canada.

“If airlines want to improve boarding, they need to take a deep breath and make a big, bold change — they need to end charging for checked bags and start charging for full-size carry-on bags,” he added.

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