Improving Airlines' On-time Performance

IMPROVING AIRLINES’ ON-TIME PERFORMANCE Was the last time you travelled by air, it took too much? Did the flight get delayed? What happened? It’s so simple when you’re the one asking, isn’t it? You can even think of many ways to solve it. However, finding the right ones are complicated more than you think. What passengers dislike the most is getting stuck in the terminal, the apparently endless boarding time, and once again stuck on the runway. Moving hundreds of passengers and their luggage off and onto an airplane and preparing an aircraft to depart on schedule within safety parameters are pretty much a challenge for any airline. Among the many factors contributing to airline’s on-time performance problems, the top three revolve around a very slow boarding process, maintenance problems whenever the temperature dropped below 30°F (snow hurdles not just for aircraft but also for the support vehicles, technical defects (insufficient fire cover, closed runway, out-of-operation baggage handling system), aircraft catering, fueling, cleaning), and occasional shortages of baggage handlers (EuroControl, 2017). So, how to fix these problems? And what could really work? For problems with the boarding process, five causes have been pointed out. First class passengers are boarded first. When the aisle is blocked by these passengers, it prevents those who would sit in coach from to get by and to get seated. Often, the passengers who have window seats have difficulties boarding because the ones who are seated along the aisles board first (they have to get up after all for the passengers sitting by the window to take their seat. It takes an awful lot of time.) Another often thing that prevents people to get by and get seated is when the ones seated in the front section of economy class board prior to the ones sitting behind them. From any specified row, just one passenger could take up the aisle area while putting the baggage in overhead bin at any specified time; hence, blocking the aisle, slowing down the process of putting away the luggage, and likewise slowing down the seat placements. Lastly, due to unintentional effects of fees for charging stowed baggage, passengers have been given incentives by the airline in packing cumbersome carry-on luggage, which are more difficult and troublesome when it comes to carrying it then jamming it into the overhead bin. Whatever solution that comes to mind for reducing the time to board should consider increasing simultaneously using the entire aisle area. So, yes, no clogging in all directions including not only people getting through their seats but also passengers who are still not sitting and, not yet stowing their baggage when they have already arrived at their designated seats. Alliance partners, business class, and first class definitely feed the airline’s finances so focusing on the easiest solutions would be better. But then again, the most ideal boarding method would be filling in the seat from back to front accordingly. So, there would be no clogging. How about opening up the other side of the airplane? If it takes at least 26 seconds for 6 passengers to ride a car using one door open but takes approximately 12 seconds when two doors from both sides are open, then it could be the same...