a current event
article
by Those who find themselves stuck in a blocked aisle while boarding airplanes may have even more to grumble about. "Classier" airlines who employ assigned seating and board the plane starting with the rear-most seats to maintain a sense of order, may actual lengthen boarding times. New analysis, using unorthodox methods, has shown the melee of free-for-all seating to be the more timely method (although window-seats-first seating is also an improvement).
Boarding simulations have traditionally used models including complicating factors such as slow-moving passengers, full overhead bins, and people sitting in the wrong place. However, a group of mathematicians and computer scientists have used mathematics (more commonly applied to the theory of relativity and prime number theory) to replace those factors and model airplane boarding. It appears ‘to be the first application of this theory outside physics.’
Similarly tagged OmniNerd content:
- 3D Mandelbrot Images, by VnutZ 4 months ago
- Pattern Analysis of the PowerBall Lottery, by VnutZ about 1 year ago
- Category Theory for the Practicing Phycisist, by wyldeling over 1 year ago
- Extraterrestrial Life Unlikely, by gnifyus almost 2 years ago
Print Friendly
Write an Article
that's why I fly Southwest by mikeforbes :: NR6 :: Show
You know, the other day I tried explaining the two-dimensional Lorentz geometry theory to the Lufthansa lady when she wouldn’t let me board before the "Platinum Club" passengers, but she would have nothing of it.
The guy behind me kept trying to excuse her irrationality, saying that she "didn’t speak English," but I think she was just being stubborn. Dang Germans.
How much faster? by markmcb :: NR7 :: Show
While interesting, I wonder just how much time is saved on a 200+ passenger plane. I didn’t see any time figures in the articles.
In my experience, the boarding procedures are just shy of being a free-for-all anyway. They usually call a set of rows to start boarding, and before all of that group has gone through the ticket validation point, the next group is queued. It seems to me that they’re already pushing people into the gate as fast as possible. I suppose randomization of passengers beyond row groups could help, but I just can’t imagine it helping that much. If I missed a time stat somewhere, could someone fill me in?