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Delta is changing how it boards passengers starting May 1
Delta Air Lines is changing its boarding process beginning May 1 in an effort to speed up loading passengers onto planes.
If you’re flying on the airline, you’ll have to know what zone number you’re in to board in the correct sequence.
That’s because Delta is introducing numbered boarding zones for all flights, meaning that customers will have a zone number assigned to them instead of boarding groups labelled by airline status or fare class, such as “Sky Priority.” The airline stressed that boarding orders will not change, but the group names will.
Customers who need more assistance will still pre-board as usual before passengers in Zone 1, which will comprise Delta One and First Class customers. Zone 2 will include Diamond Medallion Members and Delta Premium Select ticket holders.
Delta Comfort+ customers will board in Zone 3, followed by Sky Priority in Zone 4, according to a chart on the airline’s website. Zone numbers will go up to 8, when basic economy passengers will board.
Delta said the change is small, but could make the process easier for infrequent fliers and non-English speakers who only have to listen for a number to know when it’s their turn to board. The change will also make the process less stressful for gate agents, Delta added.
“While a simple change, this transition to numbered zones will provide customers more clarity into the boarding sequence and make the boarding process more intuitive—especially for infrequent travelers and/or customers who might face a language barrier at the gate,” Delta said in a statement to CBS News.
Delta added, “Numbered zones will also align more closely with our joint venture and international partners, providing international customers a more simplified, consistent experience when traveling on mixed-metal itineraries. ”
CEO Ed Bastian addressed the change on the company’s first quarter earnings call Wednesday. “When you have a number and you’re standing in line, we are all trained to know when it’s our turn,” Bastian said.
Delta introduced its branded fare boarding process in 2018, calling zone boarding “a thing of the past” for the airline.
Superficial changes?
Clarkson University professor John Milne, an expert on airline boarding, said the change is fairly superficial and that there are other changes Delta and its competitors could make to boarding processes that would make them more efficient.
“They’re not changing who boards when or the sequence,” he told CBS MoneyWatch. “All they are changing is the names of what passenger group boards next.”
The airline still prioritizes passengers with airline status or who paid for a higher class fare on a particular flight. Instead, it would be more efficient to board passengers based on where on the aircraft they are seated, Milne said.
For example, boarding window seat customers in the back half of the plane first would speed up the process. “That way you would minimize some of the congestion,” he said.
Delta instead assigns passengers to boarding groups based on their loyalty to the airline and ticket prices.
The airline posted a $37 million first-quarter profit on Wednesday and said demand for air travel is strong heading into the busy summer travel season. Travelers are flocking to book trips despite a string of recent air safety incidents, including a panel blowing off a Boeing 737 Max aircraft during an Alaska Airlines flight.
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Long before comic book characters dominated movie screens, actor Christopher Reeve made the world believes in superheroes with the 1978 classic “Superman.”
Reeve died in 2004, nearly a decade after an accident re-shaped his life. “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” is using interviews with family and friends and never-before-seen home videos to explore his real-life heroism.
Reeve started his career on the stage, studying at the prestigious Juilliard School and living with comedian Robin Williams. The pair had a friendship that was “more like a brotherhood,” said Reeve’s son Matthew. Reeve was in awe of Williams’ energy and versatility, Matthew Reeve said, but audiences quickly clued into Reeve’s own star power when he took on the role of the Man of Steel.
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To his children, though, he “was just dad,” Matthew Reeve said. The documentary explores how Matthew Reeve and his sister Alexandra Reeve Givens grew up watching their dad take the stage as Superman. “Super/Man” also reveals their heartbreak over their parents’ breakup and the joy they found when Reeve re-married. He tied the knot with Dana Reeve in 1992, and the pair welcomed another child, William Reeve, later that year.
“Dana was sunshine,” Alexandra Reeve Givens recalled. “She just brought joy with her wherever she was and could find it even in the darkest moments.”
Those dark moments came suddenly, when in 1995, a near-fatal horseback riding accident left Reeve paralyzed from the neck down. The documentary allows viewers to see, for the first time, what went on out of the public’s view. Reeve can be heard talking about how he “ruined (his) life and everybody else’s,” but in a touching moment, old friend Robin Williams is seen visiting him in the hospital.
“Robin showed him ‘Hey, you’re still you,'” Alexandra Reeve Givens said. “‘You still have this foundation of friendship and people around you, who adore you. And you’re going to find those fun moments in life again.'”
That support from friends and family re-ignited Reeve’s legacy of activism. He made appearances at the Democratic National Convention and the 68th Academy Awards in 1996, about a year after the accident. Matthew Reeve said watching his father address his industry peers at the Oscars was “one of (his) most proud moments.”
“It was just a production for him to get out of bed every morning, let alone get across the country and go out in public for the first time,” Matthew Reeve said. “It was a big deal. It was a big deal to him, but it was also a big deal to the entire disability community. We stayed up in London till like three in the morning to watch that live. It’s a fond memory.”
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Reeve also went on to launch what would become the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, which is dedicated to advancing research into spiral cord injury and help individuals and families impacted by paralysis. It was his dad’s mission to find a cure, Matthew Reeve said, while his stepmother wanted to focus on improving the lives of paralyzed people and their families. The foundation and Reeve’s platform helped bring unprecedented attention and funding to spinal cord injury research.
Reeve even kept acting and realized his lifelong dream of directing with the 1997 HBO movie “In the Gloaming.” Reeve died in 2004 from heart failure at 52.
“There is a huge amount of great actors and actresses out there, where their filmography might be amazing and what they achieve on a cultural level might be amazing, but have they actually achieved anything really as a human that moves the needle for our society?” said filmmaker Ian Bonhote, who made the documentary with Peter Ettedgui. “And Chris has done both things.”
“Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” will open in theaters on Friday, Oct. 11.
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