Team 2056 Page 5 of 50 1 Introduction Flight technology has come a long way since the glider flown by Orville and Wilbur during the autumn of 1903. Unlike aircraft so- phistication however, passenger boarding techniques have seen lit tle evolution much to the dismay of frequent fiers who have to wade through the narrow aisles of airplanes and wait for granny to stow away gifts for each of her 20 grandchildren. As the ti- tle of a New York Times article emphatically suggests, ' Loadin an Airliner is Rocket Science. Boarding time not only determines airplane productivity but also impacts customer satisfaction. Pro- longed boarding markedly reduces passengers' perception of quality and considerably increases total airplane turnaround time. The lat- ter is particularly critical over short flights where a few additional minutes spent boarding can throw off the day' s schedule. This pa- per simulates different patterns of boarding sequences to determine the optimal method of plane boarding 1.1 Restatement of the problem The truth about the airline industry is that passengers have place to be and people to see; airlines have planes to fly and dollars to dry In a utopia founded on world peace, sated bellies and zero boarding or deplaning times, it is difficult to imagine passengers and airlines having anything to whine about. But utopian dreams are but fan- tasies. Unfortunately, passengers and airlines have to contend with the frustration of waiting when boarding and deplaning. Both pas- sengers and airlines thus have vested interests in the development of boarding and deplaning patterns that minimize waiting times. This is particularly true for the airlines, where the benefit of short board- ing and deplaning times is two-fold higher airplane productivity and greater customer satisfaction. However, given the constraints that airlines operate under- the structure of planes and the infras- tructure of airports- the only mechanisms for minimizing waiting times at the airlines' disposal are the boarding and deplaning se- quences When passengers board a plane, congestion builds in aisles as pas- sengers stumble through the aisles or attempt to stow their luggage in the overhead compartments. Congestion also results due to seatTeam 2056 Page 5 of 50 1 Introduction Flight technology has come a long way since the glider flown by Orville and Wilbur during the autumn of 1903. Unlike aircraft so￾phistication however, passenger boarding techniques have seen lit￾tle evolution – much to the dismay of frequent fliers who have to wade through the narrow aisles of airplanes and wait for granny to stow away gifts for each of her 20 grandchildren. As the ti￾tle of a New York Times article emphatically suggests, ’Loading an Airliner is Rocket Science.’ Boarding time not only determines airplane productivity but also impacts customer satisfaction. Pro￾longed boarding markedly reduces passengers’ perception of quality and considerably increases total airplane turnaround time. The lat￾ter is particularly critical over short flights where a few additional minutes spent boarding can throw off the day’s schedule. This pa￾per simulates different patterns of boarding sequences to determine the optimal method of plane boarding. 1.1 Restatement of the Problem The truth about the airline industry is that passengers have places to be and people to see; airlines have planes to fly and dollars to dry. In a utopia founded on world peace, sated bellies and zero boarding or deplaning times, it is difficult to imagine passengers and airlines having anything to whine about. But utopian dreams are but fan￾tasies. Unfortunately, passengers and airlines have to contend with the frustration of waiting when boarding and deplaning. Both pas￾sengers and airlines thus have vested interests in the development of boarding and deplaning patterns that minimize waiting times. This is particularly true for the airlines, where the benefit of short board￾ing and deplaning times is two-fold – higher airplane productivity and greater customer satisfaction. However, given the constraints that airlines operate under – the structure of planes and the infras￾tructure of airports – the only mechanisms for minimizing waiting times at the airlines’ disposal are the boarding and deplaning se￾quences. When passengers board a plane, congestion builds in aisles as pas￾sengers stumble through the aisles or attempt to stow their luggage in the overhead compartments. Congestion also results due to seat