AIRPORT DISTRICT — Bob Hope Airport’s most popular resident has changed the way people board planes.
Southwest Airlines, which accounts for more than 60% of airport traffic, changed its boarding procedures Thursday in an effort to better meet the demands of its customers, officials said.
The old procedure, by which travelers line up in three groups — A, B or C — and wait until boarding begins, will now be augmented to allow for a more specific check-in time.
Customers at Bob Hope and the 63 airports Southwest serves, will now be greeted by a system in which their boarding pass will have a letter — still A, B or C — and a number that represents their group.
There are five subdivisions in each letter group and 60 numbers overall, said Whitney Eichinger, a spokeswoman for the airline.
“When you check in, you get your boarding pass, which will say something like A33,” she said. “Customers will have a designated spot to stand in. One through five here, six through 10 here and so on. People were waiting in line before on a first-come, first-serve basis; now, we are reserving your place in line.”
People can check in 24 hours before their flight to receive a lower number and earlier boarding time, she said.
The change could affect millions at Bob Hope, airport spokesman Victor Gill said.
“As of September, there were 4 million passengers at the airport,” he said. “Southwest had [about] 2 million, which represents 63.3% of traffic.”
Southwest has constructed temporary stanchions to differentiate the time slots.
The Burbank-Glendale- Pasadena Airport Authority sought to ensure that nothing permanent was built, Gill said.
