The seats are assigned. People have been standing in line for 15 minutes now. Why on earth would anyone want to stand there, when they could just sit and wait until the line clears?
I understand wanting to get off a plane ASAP, but boarding? You just end up sitting on the plane, waiting for everyone else to get on.
This is the answer. Trace it back to the early 2000s when airlines started charging for checked bags. That created an immediate premium for overhead space and kicked off the Boarding Wars we now find ourselves in today, where airlines and passengers alike contort themselves literally and figuratively in an attempt to work around this one massive consequence of corporate greed.
-20 airline professional
I wish there was just seat designations in the overhead. If shit is in my slot, yeet.
I agree. But this would require them to provide adequate space up there for each passenger. They are squeezing seats together so tightly that may no longer be possible.
Bin designs are just now getting to the point where there is something like a 1:1 relationship between passengers and overhead space. Only a small fraction of the flights operating (at least in the US) have these bins, though.
Some of the new Boeing aircraft, as it happens, so it’s a trade off…