Boarding by allocated seating makes the process more flexible and more pleasant for the customer.
Yes - if it is adheared to. But on MANY sectors that I take on mainlines with allocated - they also abandon the boarding by numbers process!
If eJ handling agents ignore the 1~30; 31~60 route and just open the gate, then so do mainlines. It is infuriating to know that you are in the last rows in Y and then have to scrimmage your way down the aisle as the front 25/45 rows try and stuff their oversized bags into the overheads!
The stupidest version of this is when you see all the Y pax of a 744 loaded one-at-a-time through a single door with no priority of rows. My presumption is that carriers are cutting back on gate staff. Also, gate staff know that pax are becoming ever more bl@@dy minded - whether they have pre-allocated seating or not!
So, back to eJ, what to do? I agree that free seating CAN work but it has to be controlled more strongly and that takes experienced staff and they cost money.