No more queuing on planes – The new rules that will get you on board

The nightmare of waiting to board planes is over. Airline in the US is implementing a new method with six groups of passengers, which saves up to two minutes of boarding time.

On United Airlines flights, after the three initial boarding groups (disabled, premium frequent flyers, and first/business class passengers) enter, the economy class passengers with a window seat will follow, then those sitting in middle seats, while passengers with aisle seats will board last.

The process, which is abbreviated as WILMA (from window-middle-aisle), according to United has already been piloted at five airports and is faster. This change also means that those who catch and book window seats will have a better chance of leaving their hand luggage on top of their seat rather than somewhere further away.

But there is an even better method, according to John Milne of Clarkson University in New York, co-author of the scientific journal. That of the inverted pyramid, with four boarding groups.

The first group consists of passengers with window seats in the rear half of the plane. The second consists of passengers with middle seats in the back half of the plane and window seats in the front half. The third group is passengers with middle seats in the front half of the plane and aisle seats in the back half. The fourth and final group are passengers with aisle seats in the front half of the plane.

“The inverted pyramid method is faster than WILMA and remains simple,” says Milne. “If airlines can tolerate more complexity, which is very difficult, there are even better methods.”