AN INTERACTIVE BOARDING EXPERIMENT

Can you board
a plane better?

Change the rules. Fill the cabin. Watch the bottlenecks form. The fastest-looking strategy is not always the fastest one.

BUILD YOUR TEST

Boarding rules

STRATEGY

WILMAACTIVE

Window → middle → aisle

Outside-in seating removes most seat shuffles and spreads work along the cabin.

W→M→A

Passenger load85%

LIGHTFULL

Carry-on bags68%

HANDS FREEBIN TETRIS

Gate flow14/min

SPACED ARRIVALSCROWDED GATE

Rule compliance82%

CHAOTICPERFECT

Average bag stow18s

QUICK 6sSLOW 30s

HUMAN & CABIN VARIABLESGroups, preboarding, bin space and door split.

Travel groups30%

SOLO TRAVELERSMORE TOGETHER

Preboarded passengers8%

NONELARGER SHARE

Overhead-bin space100%

TIGHTPLENTY

Rear-door share50% via rear

BOARDING GROUPS

This strategy defines its own boarding waves.

BOARDING DOORS

PLAYBACK SPEED

LIVE CABIN

0/122 seated

Window Middle Aisle

WHAT TO WATCH

Every delay has
a shape.

Full-stop stows

One bag can stop the entire aisle. Spacing bag owners across rows lets several people work at once.

Seat shuffles

A window passenger arriving after the aisle passenger can require four to nine movements, depending on who is already seated.

Human behavior

Walking pace, stow time, preboarding, travel groups and imperfect rule-following all reshape the queue.