I know the purists will go on about passengers getting in the way of cabin staff etc but we should not loose sight of what we are trying to achieve.
From my point of view, as ex Cabin Crew, we always boarded as soon as security checks were completed. It's not about you getting in the way as we did this but about the fact that the aircraft, by law, cannot be boarded until these checks are completed.
Often downroute despite the time the aircraft spends on stand, it is spending much of this time being cleaned and catered. This is hard to do if you have 300 people sitting in the seats, they don't even let the crew on until they've finished!
so rather than que pax in a gate allow them to drift onto the aircraft as they arrive - works on trains, we don't have to be coralled in a gate to get on them!
If the aircraft only spent two minutes at the gate to board and disembark all the passengers (leaving everyone else behind), all the ground staff were given whistles and a surly attitude and there weren't security implcations no doubt we could shove you all on quickly to. Hell, if we could get dispensation to get underway while you're still looking to find a place for your bag and somewhere to sit whilst the passenger behind you is shouting "move down!" we really could get home quicker. Apples with apples please.