Nearly a month ago, I wrote about a trial American Airlines was conducting to combat gate lice. Well, it seems that the tests were successful, as AA begins deploying new boarding tech. However, this isn’t a system-wide change – at least, not yet.
Gate lice is a product of airline greed. They began charging for checked bags to boost revenue, and causing passengers to compete for the limited overhead bin space available on an aircraft. This issue has only worsened over the years, especially as checked bag fees continue to rise, bag retrieval times worsen, and instances of bags misconnecting/getting lost/damaged worsen. This can be seen with, not only gate lice, but Southwest’s infamous “miracle flights,” too.
It’s flabbergasting, then, that airlines have done nothing to combat these issues. After all, they cause these headaches in the first place.
Well, as we all know, American Airlines is being a first for once and is trialing a system to detect passengers that try to board with a group earlier than the one they’re assigned to. Thankfully, it appears that the solution is working, as AA begin deploying new boarding tech to additional airports. However, don’t expect to see the new system at an airport near you soon.
AA Begins Deploying New Boarding Tech
According to Gary Leff once again, AA begins deploying new boarding tech at an expanding list of airports, after successful trials at Albuquerque, Tucson, and Reagan National. The good news is that this rollout is occurring QUICKLY, with airline representatives telling Leff that they’re doing it “just in time for the busy holiday travel season.”
However, this new system isn’t being deployed at any hubs beyond Reagan National at the moment. Airline officials say that the tech is currently going to “over 100 spoke airports,” with examples given being Atlanta and Austin. That said, they also said that, should this next set of airports perform well, we can expect to see this tech in other airports in the future, including at other hubs throughout their network.
It’s worth noting American officials have said that the system doesn’t increase boarding times and, thus, has no material impact on operations. Gate agents also have the ability to override flags to accommodate early boardings within company policy, such as when passengers in differing boarding groups are allowed to board together, pre-boarding for qualified passengers, etc. The implementation of these overrides hasn’t been as seamless for passengers as officials would like, but they are working with crews to smooth things out as AA begins deploying new boarding tech.
Of course, while the system helps to reduce line cutters, it still won’t actually do anything to discourage gate lice. But, hey, at least American is trying to do something. They deserve credit for their efforts, even if the rest of the airline remains a dumpster fire.
Final Thoughts
While I commend the fact that AA begins deploying new boarding tech, you know what also works? Ground staff that lays down the law, as was the case on one of my more recent flights with Southwest. The gate agent working that flight was very stern about her demands, and miraculously, many complied. Now, if only they could do something about those lying about needing extra assistance to board… who then decline assistance to deplane.
At any rate, as I’ve said before, I applaud American for their efforts, especially since we won’t see the cause of the issue go away. Now, who’s going to try something next? United? Or America’s “premium” airline – Delta? Probably not Delta, as they’re more concerned with how to extract more money from their passengers. But, that’s a story for another day.