Reduced turnaround times are the 'Holy Grail' of increased aircraft untilisation. Myopia, lack of investment, conservatism and passengers frustrate any improvement. Taking the last one first. Most poeople board and aircraft, find their seat, throw their bag in the overhead locker and sit down. But I'm convinced that one or two people per hundred are paid to travel with us by our competitors. They haul on three or four items of handbaggage, are unable to find their row, have multiple layer of clothing that have to be removed before they sit down, have multiple gadgets that have to be set up and one of those ridiculous neck cushion things - all for a 50 minute flight. Their boarding alone can cost five minutes. The other time consuming people of those passengers with babies and those dreadful 'strap a kid to you' devices. To date, I haven't seen one parent disembark as part of the normal flow. It is usual that they will be last off and take an additional five minutes to disembark. I've also noticed that this is normally their first baby. By the time it comes to No. 2 the infernal strap thing is placed in the bin and they carry their offspring off, in the the normal flow of traffic. Then we have the control aspect. People just don't listen or if they do, refuse to follow advice. When told to board at the rear, they don't. They board at the front and walk the entire length of the aircraft, the last half against the flow of passengers who did as they were asked, to get to their seat.
With regard to baggage, airlines are their own worst enemies. Charging for checked in bags means passengers will go to almost any limit to avoid paying. Unsurprisingly this results in excess cabin baggage that can take a considerable amount if time to stow. My record in now approaching 20 minutes.
Then there are the other issues. It is an unfortunate fact that people who design airports haven't worked at the sharp end of commercial aviation. Judging by their designs, I smell degrees in fine art and politics etc. Terminals are designed with nose in gates, necessitating push-backs yet no Fixed Ground Power nor air conditioning is installed. Access to and from the apron is only possible if you have a local pass, so walk-arounds are often delayed. The nose-in parking also means the rear doors, if fitted, are either not used or under utilised - if you can get steps. Too often nose-in stands also means cul-de-sacs and single aircraft movements meaning that as soon as one aircraft is in the taxi lane, nothing else can move. This causes more delays.
Then we have the song and dance act with barriers, cones and tapes under the wings etc. I don't know what they are there for and no handling agent has ever come up with a good reason. I've heard of lame excuses like "to stop fluids dropping on passengers" but nothing that makes sense (if fluid comes out of a wing, I don't want to fly that plane).
Personally I like going to Scandinavian airports. They have more open aprons, have normally FEP and A/C and seem to know that the things underneath people's bottoms are called legs. Amazing devices that allow human beings to move around. Yes, there are still too many push-back stands but at least most of their aprons allow multiple ground movements.
And this is not an exhaustive list. There are plenty of other things that cause turnaround delays.
That we ever depart amazes me.
PM