DJ - New 'Autoboard' goes live 11 February
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DJ - New 'Autoboard' goes live 11 February
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
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
Join Date: Jun 2007
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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.
Nunc est bibendum
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.
Interesting concept. If DJ crew can provide feedback as to how it all pans out that'd be great.
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.
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...
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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
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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?
Nunc est bibendum
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.
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.
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
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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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.