N62NA From United States of America, joined Aug 2003, 3674 posts, RR: 4 Posted (8 years 11 months 3 weeks 1 day 22 hours ago) and read 3160 times:
I've been curious about this for a while now. I've flown on many different types of aircraft which have 2 doors on the same side in front of the wing (lately A300 and 757).
What / who determines which door will be used for passenger boarding? I don't believe it's entirely dictated by the specific aircraft type and the specific gate at an airport, as I've boarded AA A300s at EWR at gate 33 via both 1L and 2L doors.
Dalmd88 From United States of America, joined Jul 2000, 2365 posts, RR: 15 Reply 2, posted (8 years 11 months 3 weeks 1 day 17 hours ago) and read 2724 times:
I think most operators prefer to board through L2. It prevents a big jam up in first class. On some gates the jetway can't reach L2.
Sammyhostie From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 3, posted (8 years 11 months 3 weeks 1 day 15 hours ago) and read 2652 times:
"it depends on how the a/c fits into the gates. hopefully someone here has a more in-depth explanation."
As a Cabin Crew member, I can tell you that the L1 door is the one most favoured, purely because it allows easier pax boarding via a jetbridge.
The Aft a/c L door is only open when fuelling during boarding, as there has to be 2 exits open and usable in case of an emergency evacution.(Even when boarding via an airbridge)
The a/c R right doors are never used for boarding, as they are used for servicing the a/c, although they will always remain armed if closed during boarding.
Jamotcx From United Kingdom, joined May 2004, 1037 posts, RR: 28 Reply 4, posted (8 years 11 months 3 weeks 1 day 15 hours ago) and read 2557 times:
The a/c R right doors are never used for boarding, as they are used for servicing the a/c, although they will always remain armed if closed during boarding.
Nup, they're not. Not sure on the regulations but in practice I have never seen this happen.
The Aft a/c L door is only open when fuelling during boarding, as there has to be 2 exits open and usable in case of an emergency evacuation.(Even when boarding via an airbridge)
Yet again, doesn't happen. Many a time have I struggled to get down the aisle of a 757 during boarding because the only open door is L2.
But back to the original question. It mainly depends on the airbridge whether it connect by L1 or L2. But the preferred if available for most airlines is L2 as this causes less blockages between the front and back of the plane.
Also if we use steps for boarding we use L2 and L4 on 757's and A330's
Sammyhostie From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 5, posted (8 years 11 months 3 weeks 1 day 13 hours ago) and read 2365 times:
Jamo,
Im talking from experience also as Cabin Crew with 3 airlines in the UK.
Please don't sound so patronising!
Our airline, and indeed every airline obeys the fuellling regulations, my partner is actually a re-fueller and refuses to fuel any a/c that does not have 2 exits open.
Any airline that does not do this, is endangering the lives of crew and passengers.
CitationJet From United States of America, joined Mar 2003, 2230 posts, RR: 3 Reply 6, posted (8 years 11 months 3 weeks 1 day 11 hours ago) and read 2302 times:
The European requirements for fueling with passengers on board are defined in JAR OPS 1.305.
Basically, they state
1. One qualified person must be at a location to initiate evacuation.
2. The crew must be notified that fueling is taking place.
3. Fasten Seat Belt signs must be off
4. No Smoking sign must be on, along with interior lighting.
5. Passengers must be instructed to unfasten their seat belts.
6. Sufficient qualified personnel must be on board to aid in evacuation.
7. If fuel vapor is noticied inside the airplane, fueling must stop.
8. The ground area beneath the exits intended for emergency evacuation and slide deployment must be kept clear.
9. Provision is made for a safe and rapid evacuation.
JAR OPS are the commercial operational requirements for European commercial airlines.
N62NA From United States of America, joined Aug 2003, 3674 posts, RR: 4 Reply 7, posted (8 years 11 months 3 weeks 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 2260 times:
Willo From United Kingdom, joined Dec 2003, 1352 posts, RR: 14 Reply 8, posted (8 years 11 months 3 weeks 1 day 9 hours ago) and read 2243 times:
Sammyhostie
Probably a stupid question, but is the preference for doors used any different for schedule and charter operators (i.e. no 1st/Business class to load), or is it purely down to a/c type and current location?
Hoping you have sufficient experience to to be able to answer
Jjbiv From United States of America, joined Jan 2001, 1226 posts, RR: 6 Reply 9, posted (8 years 11 months 3 weeks 1 day 8 hours ago) and read 2218 times:
On the 757, L2 is preferred since it allows for boarding the most aft rows and the most forward rows simultaneously. However, not all gates allow the aircraft to pull in far enough for the jetbridge to reach L2. In this case, L1 is used.
Sammyhostie From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 10, posted (8 years 11 months 3 weeks 16 hours ago) and read 2117 times:
Hi Andrew,
Having worked for BA and a few charters, there was a slight difference, but I think it was due to the different cabins.
One door open for First, next one for World Traller etc..
On charters they do tend to have a premium cabin, and quite a few times we have had that L1 door open for the premium passengers, and L2 for the main cabin.
In FAO they only always use the L1 door for boarding, which can be fun on an A330!
FLFlyGuy From United States of America, joined May 2004, 238 posts, RR: 3 Reply 12, posted (8 years 11 months 2 weeks 5 days 21 hours ago) and read 1955 times:
Well, in the U.S. I guess the rules are a little different. I have never seen 2 doors open for fueling. US FAR's require one door to be open for fueling. At AA, anyway, the only time I see another door open is if the aircraft is being catered or if cabin service boards via truck (they use one of the service doors in that case).
We (AA f/a's) have been pushing to board the 757 through the 2L door in order to relieve the congestion in the front cabin. They have started doing that in some locations, however, as with the A300, not all jetbridges will reach to the 2L door.
There are also concerns with having the jetbridge so close to the engine on the wing. At some airports (particularly where the airport itself owns/maintains the facilities)the jetbridges are ... let us just say "non-precision" ... and the fear of damaging the engine overrides a preference for using 2L.
At least that's what we've been told.
The views expressed are my own, and not necessarily those of my employer.
SlamClick From United States of America, joined Nov 2003, 10062 posts, RR: 71 Reply 13, posted (8 years 11 months 2 weeks 5 days 10 hours ago) and read 1884 times:
Sammyhostie going all the way back up to where the trouble started at reply #3 it appears to me that you and the thread starter are talking about two different things. I've added emphasis where you differ.
N62NA wrote: I've been curious about this for a while now. I've flown on many different types of aircraft which have 2 doors on the same side in front of the wing (lately A300 and 757).
That means FOUR doors on aircraft left.
You replied: The Aft a/c L door is only open when fuelling during boarding, as there has to be 2 exits open and usable in case of an emergency evacution.(Even when boarding via an airbridge)
The thread still refers to boarding forward of the wing, difference being first class would turn left and go forward to their seats while coach would turn right and go aft to theirs.
My company operates four different aircraft types that have four floor-level doors on each side of the cabin. I have flown all four types. It seems that whenever jetway/gate layout permits, they prefer to board at 2L on these aircraft.
Happiness is not seeing another trite Ste. Maarten photo all week long.
Leezyjet From United Kingdom, joined Oct 2001, 4041 posts, RR: 55 Reply 14, posted (8 years 11 months 2 weeks 5 days 8 hours ago) and read 1849 times:
As a qualified Jetbridge driver at LHR, it is basically upto the jetbridge operator which door to use, although the airlines themselves have their own preferences.
At the airline I work for, the preference is to use door 2, but on some stands the bridge will not reach door 2, so we have to use door 1.
On dual jetbridge stands, again we will normally only use door 2 due to the fact that we are required to have a security guard positioned at the boarding door, and we would have to pay for another guard were we to use both bridges, although if one bridge is broken then we will use the other, but only on the 747 as in T3, the fixed jetbridges cannot be used on other a/c types. Very rarely will we ever use 2 bridges, the only time we do is for offloading passengers on an extremely tight turn round, this is mainly due to the layout of the gates in T3, and as I said before, the requirement to have a guard on the door.
On a/c with only 1 door forward of the wing, then obviously you would use that door.
"She Rolls, 45 knots, 90, 135, nose comes up to 20 degrees, she's airborne - She flies, Concorde Flies"
Vxg From United States of America, joined May 2004, 102 posts, RR: 0 Reply 15, posted (8 years 11 months 2 weeks 4 days 16 hours ago) and read 1751 times:
We (AA f/a's) have been pushing to board the 757 through the 2L door in order to relieve the congestion in the front cabin.
I experienced this at ORD a few weeks ago boarding a 757 at one of the H gates (H12 I believe). In the past I had thought AA avoided using anything but 1L on the 757s because they have squeezed in 2 seats in front of 2L (row 9). In fact the passenger sitting in 9C had to stand in the galley while passengers boarded - otherwise too many people would be tripping over his feet. Now on the ex-TW birds the area in front of 2L is free and clear so it would make a bunch more sense on these aircraft.
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