Delta to test loading carry-on bags
Yes, you read the headline right. Delta Air Lines will test whether they can load carry-on bags faster than you can. Per an article this morning in the Atlanta Business Chronicle:
“Workers with Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc. will load carry-on bags into overhead bins on some flights as part of a program to determine if the carrier’s employees can load bins faster than passengers.
The goal is to save time and money.
The program, called “Early Valet,” began Monday on some flights and will be added to many more during June, a Delta spokeswoman told The Associated Press.”
I realize that airlines don't make operational decisions lightly. I know there are teams of experts that analyze the efficiency of everything they do. That's why I just accept that the zoned boarding process is faster than simply loading from the back to the front like the old days. But with zoned boarding and people going to different rows throughout the aircraft, it would seem that having additional people in the aisles would impede passengers trying to get to their seats more so than zoned boarding already seems to do.
For me, I have no need for this service. I always check my main luggage and only carry-on my briefcase and, for some trips, my camera bag. With priority boarding from either Delta Comfort+ or via my American Express Platinum Delta SkyMiles Card, I almost never find the bins above my seat full when I arrive at my row.