2007年美国赛赛题1.docVIP

Loading an Airliner Is Rocket Science By PAUL BURNHAM FINNEY Published: November 14, 2006 Airlines have been boarding passengers for decades, long enough, it would seem, to have figured out the best way to get people on and off a plane. But they haven’t. Skip to next paragraph Multimedia Graphic Now Boarding. Listen Carefully. Graphic Seating, Rows... Spurred by financial pressures and packed planes — often 80 to 90 percent full — airlines have come up with a wide variation of boarding techniques, from the simple back-to-front protocol to one of the most complicated strategies, known as the reverse pyramid system, that US Airways has adopted. In September, JetBlue told customers they could be seated first if they booked Rows 20 to 26, the very back of the plane. Minimizing time on the ground, especially on shorter flights that use single-aisle aircraft, means the planes can get back in the air faster so they can make money. Even a few extra minutes on the ground can throw off the day’s schedule. “The advantage of a fast turnaround is not cutting costs but generating revenue,” said David Swierenga, an economist and president of AeroEcon, an aviation consultancy. “If you save time with each turn of, say, seven flights, you may be able to schedule an eighth flight.” Richard Aboulafia, an analyst at the Teal Group, an aviation industry consultant, said the time savings on transcontinental flights do not make much difference. “But if it’s Baltimore to Islip on Long Island, it matters.” The basic back-to-front procedure is probably the most familiar, and it is still used by many airlines, including Air Canada, Alaska, American, British Airways, Continental, Frontier, Midwest, Spirit and Virgin Atlantic. (Nearly all airlines allow first-class or business-class passengers, and those with special needs, to board first.) Mathematicians would revel in the intricacies of the new boarding techniques. There is the outside-in technique, nicknamed Wilma, for window first,