DJ - New 'Autoboard' goes live 11 February

[my oleo is extended]

A new streamlined boarding procedure 'Autoboard' which is due to go live to the domestic network on Thursday 11 February.

It sets a standard time for the first guest arriving at the aircraft, removing the need for Guest Services to obtain approval to board before each flight.

Approx 2 minutes is currently wasted between approval to board being given and guests arriving at the aircraft. With 'Autoboard', scanning will commence automatically so that guests arrive at the aircraft -18 minutes from either the Scheduled Time of Departure (STD) or Estimated Time of Boarding (ETD) for turnaround flights and -23 to ETD for headstart flights . This allows Guest Services more time to spend with guests at the boarding gate, with big benefits to OTP.

There will be some exceptions e.g; when there is a change in operating crew or boarding needs to be delayed for safety reasons.

Cabin Crew will also be running the 'Autoboard' program

[dizzylizzy]

Will 'autoboard' still use the current boarding process & gate readers?

[porch monkey]

Expect it to work about as well as the trial did. Gonna be hilarious the first time the captain says NUP, we ain't going anywhere, yer gonna have to get them off......... Just think, people get paid bonuses for coming up with this ****e.

[Desert Dingo]

Guests ?? :yuk:
What happened to the passengers?

[Keg]

I guess the onus is on the crew to say 'no' to boarding before it autoboards.

Interesting concept. If DJ crew can provide feedback as to how it all pans out that'd be great.

[grrowler]

Qlink were doing this a few years ago, not sure if they still are - I thought it actually worked well once you got used to it. If there are any potential problems, get onto it early and just hold boarding. Of course there will be times when problems arise after boarding, but that happens now anyway.

[topend3]

Qantas don't even have gate readers at some major regionals, and i am talking major regionals (i.e. - amongst the busiest in the country) and still using bingo cards and manual counts - setting the technology trend...:ok:

[dizzylizzy]

Rips stub off boarding pass, technology these days.

[opsflyer100]

Not going ahead

[DJCCGuy]

Apparently some 'new information' supposedly around boarding procedures has come about, so they have delayed the launch of this for now...anyone know what the new information is that suddenly came out? Seems odd as the boarding processes have been the same for many years..I heard they may want to start using fwd door only

[Errajane]

I dont really understand how this differs from the normal boarding process. Are you saying passengers can just board the aircraft when they arrive at the gate without waiting for a boarding call announcement? Just like how you board a bus at a bus terminus?

[Keg]

I'm not with DJ so I may be off the mark here.

At QF, the ground staff or CSM will check with the Captain or F/O if they can commence boarding. It appears that DJ is considering moving to a system whereby they will commence boarding without that check and if something happens that will prevent boarding at the appropriate time then it's up to the crew to let the ground staff know.

.I heard they may want to start using fwd door only

Watch your OTP suffer when that first comes in. DJ loads a 737 heaps more quickly than QF by reducing the numbers of bottle knecks caused (probably by half) by having the rear door available.

[Hugh Jarse]

As grrowler wrote, Qlink have been doing it for years.

Generally, what happens is at a predetermined time (ETD - x), the flight is called in the usual way at the gate, and the PAX are sent to the aircraft unless the Captain advises otherwise (problem with the A/C, etc).

When everything lines up, it works reasonably well, but it is very easy for the wheels to fall off if everybody isn't on the ball.

[Goat Whisperer]

It's really not a big deal, instead of flight crew giving approval to cabin crew who then pass on the OK to ground crew when they're ready, which then starts pax filing through the scanning point...

the approval to board at a set time is agreed/assumed and it's the crew's onus to tell ground crew if they're NOT ready at that time.

Considering the vast majority of departures go to plan and tech delays are the exception not the norm, it's all logical IF handled intelligently. If the flight arrives on time there will be a time that the crew can expect the pax to appear in the aerobridge/bottom of stairs. Typically -20. If late that time will be adjusted by the delay.

It's not about pax boarding themselves or scanning their own boarding passes, it's just about cutting out the delay between when the crew say they are ready for pax and when the pax get to the aircraft.

[topend3]

Watch your OTP suffer when that first comes in. DJ loads a 737 heaps more quickly than QF by reducing the numbers of bottle knecks caused (probably by half) by having the rear door available.

QF board 738's front and rear at some ports...

[frigatebird]

My thoughts too Dingo.. What a crock..
Its a DJ thing..

[VBPCGUY]

Ridiculous they expected a ground crew member in position for boarding of the outbound flight within 10mins of the aircraft arriving alright on paper not a reality in theroy because if you have a flight come in from HBA or LST full of connecting bags or a couple of tonnes of freight on it you arent going to have anyone from ground crew ready to marshal the boarding pax.

[DJCCGuy]

Ridiculous they expected a ground crew member in position for boarding of the outbound flight within 10mins of the aircraft arriving alright on paper not a reality in theroy because if you have a flight come in from HBA or LST full of connecting bags or a couple of tonnes of freight on it you arent going to have anyone from ground crew ready to marshal the boarding pax.


Maybe that's why the rumour of FWD only came about?

[opsflyer100]

CASA aren't happy with the potential of passengers being held on Tarmac until crew are ready.

[Mr. Hat]

why? they've been doing it in Perth for years.

[fmcinop]

Autoboard trial cancelled..........for now anyway. Stupid bloody idea.

Yet another brilliant idea from the idiots in head office. I am sure most of which have never actually been on a plane before.

[contrails03]

Ok here's an idea..

When the cabin crew are ready to board the CS tells the FO or Captain they are ready to board.. They in turn radio AMCO (which would take 2 seconds) who then relays the message to gate staff..

Or better still how about training the CS to use the phone on the aerobridge and call the groundstaff at the gate when they are ready to board?

[VBPCGUY]

Contrails usually now the ground staff member will walk down to L1 and get permission to board straight from the mouth of the CS, walks up aerobridge and commences boarding announcements and boarding begins.

[contrails03]

Yep I'm familiar with how it's done currently :-) If the CS relays to gate staff when they are ready or -1 minute to ready it would achieve the objectives they want without the risks of autoboard..

A new streamlined boarding procedure 'Autoboard' which is due to go live to the domestic network on Thursday 11 February.

It sets a standard time for the first guest arriving at the aircraft, removing the need for Guest Services to obtain approval to board before each flight.

Approx 2 minutes is currently wasted between approval to board being given and guests arriving at the aircraft. With 'Autoboard', scanning will commence automatically so that guests arrive at the aircraft -18 minutes from either the Scheduled Time of Departure (STD) or Estimated Time of Boarding (ETD) for turnaround flights and -23 to ETD for headstart flights . This allows Guest Services more time to spend with guests at the boarding gate, with big benefits to OTP.

There will be some exceptions e.g; when there is a change in operating crew or boarding needs to be delayed for safety reasons.

Cabin Crew will also be running the 'Autoboard' program

[grrowler]

without the risks of autoboard.. what risks? If you aren't ready at -18/-23 simply hold boarding. It's not hard...

[contrails03]

CASA aren't happy with the potential of passengers being held on Tarmac until crew are ready.

Which is what was being proposed.. Also..

As grrowler wrote, Qlink have been doing it for years.

Generally, what happens is at a predetermined time (ETD - x), the flight is called in the usual way at the gate, and the PAX are sent to the aircraft unless the Captain advises otherwise (problem with the A/C, etc).

When everything lines up, it works reasonably well, but it is very easy for the wheels to fall off if everybody isn't on the ball.

[grrowler]

The only time passengers would be held on the tarmac is if everybody isn't on the ball, and crew hasn't communicated not being ready. I'm not saying it's much better, simply that the sky isn't going to fall by introducing it.

[Hugh Jarse]

You've quoted me in your above post, Contrails03.

So, what's your point? Cat got your tongue? :):confused:

Qantaslink have been doing it for ages in SY, with only a small percentage via aerobridges (with a stair combination on gate 16). I was part of it for a couple of years before I left. It took a little of the immediate control away from the captain, but essentially it worked.

Incidents while boarding via the ramp will still happen regardless of whether autoboard is used. PAX are handled the same way, just the process of who initiates boarding is different.:)

[contrails03]

No not at all Huge, you made my point for me that's why I quoted you :ok:.. It's easy for crew to get distracted and forget to contact ground crew and cancel boarding.. especially if a complicated situation arises..

Consequenses would be worse with a larger aircraft and potentially over 100 passengers spilling onto the tarmac compared to a Dash.. you may say big deal.. but if it could be avoided why not??

All I'm saying is it would be better for Crew to radio through that they are ready, it would achieve exactly the same goal with less risk of the above happening.. and it wouldn't take any extra resources.. Just an extra safety net, which is what we usually like to have in aviation..

[Cactusjack]

Aagh yes,
Autoboard trial cancelled..........for now anyway. Stupid bloody idea.
Yet another brilliant idea from the idiots in head office. I am sure most of which have never actually been on a plane before.


This is by far the most accurate comment of the thread thus far.....Good work.

The Village is also very unhappy about the Ground Crew's proposed EBA being rejected for the fifth time.It appears that the 'real workers' have finally had a gutful of 'heirachy with their snouts buried in the trough' and they also want a 'fair' deal. I also hear that the toecutters have gone back to looking at analyzing the benfits of contracting the whole lot out to other industry contractors,or setting up Ground Crew operations under a different name/company,seperate to mainline,to save some substantial dollars.They took a look at this option some years ago when there were still a couple of scrapings of loyalty left in the place and decided it wouldnt be 'flair like' to take that approach. However with the removal of recent deadwood,not to mention some others who are 'lined up in the crosshairs', plus the injection of new management blood into the veins of the place it looks as if it will be an interesting 12 months ahead.

[ozangel]

It's a procedure that assumes every turnaround is exactly the same - same crew, 30 minutes, no vomit, caterers turning up on time and not dumping half the stock on the galley bench, loaders, load control and everyone else running on time - the truth is, and anyone who's worked operationally for them will know - that rarely happens.

I tend to agree with a previous poster, in that the cabin crew/supervisor should be trained to call the gate when ready - (unofficially this has been a practice that has worked very well for some time).

In essence, this procedure removes the operating crew from one of their most important decisions - is the aircraft ready to fly? It's insulting, and poorly thought through - not just on an operational level, but on a safety and morale level too.

I get the feeling that the procedure is born from operating to poorly designed terminals like CNS (whereby it takes 10 minutes for the pax to walk to the aircraft once approval is given). Just because it works there, is no excuse to introduce it at Gate 39 in brisbane, 31 in Sydney, or even Platform 9 and 3/4 (aka Gate 49 brisbane - where passengers can be seen running at a random wall in an effort to find the boarding gate... ).

[grrowler]

As I mentioned earlier, I have worked with autoboard previously. When it was being introduced there there was a big outcry from the usual suspects spreading misinformation that it was unsafe, insulting, taking away their control, etc, etc. And guess what - nothing happened! No passengers spilling onto tarmacs or running into walls.

The purpose of autoboard is to be able to allocate delays more accurately. eg "Boarding was delayed 5 minutes due to catering" rather than "The crew didn't say they were ready until ETD -10, so let's give the delay to them". As long as you are doing your job properly there's no issue.