Aircraft Boarding From Left Doors. Why?

JEKY · Sat Jan 26, 2013 11:16 am

Hi all,

Excuse me if it has been discussed before. I have noticed that airlines allways board passengers from the left side doors of the airplanes.

Should you board via stairs or fingers, you allways get in the aircraft from the left. Has it something to do with security issues? Is that the international rule or what else?

Just wondering. Thx a lot for reply!

Jeky

happyhaydn · Sat Jan 26, 2013 12:05 pm

Hi

I'm pretty sure that most if not all airports have pax boarding from the left and aircraft servicing performed on the right, ie baggage, fuel, catering etc. The most logical reason is that airlines/airports don't want pax in this area because the space is required for the above tasks to be carried out. Some pax may even end up in the hold (they get everywhere

) Hence all service related tasks are kept to the right and pax are boarded/disembarked from the left.

That said, I have seen pics of airports in the past where the right has been used for pax boarding but this is very unusual.

Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

Happyhaydn

ba9216c · Sat Jan 26, 2013 12:11 pm

At a guess I would say it goes back to shipping days. Ships dock on the left (port-side) which is where we also get "port" from. There's no real reason why planes cannot be docked on the right however some aircraft manufactures keep to the rule so tend to have smaller "service" doors on the right e.g 757, 737 etc. most large aircraft eg 747 and 777s have normal sized doors on the starboard (right) so the only thing stopping boarding there is the airport infrastructure.

Caterers use the starboard side of the aircraft and generally cargo doors are placed there.

B777LRF · Sat Jan 26, 2013 12:15 pm

Tradition, nothing more really: Skipper sits at port side, passenger embark at port side. Once the tradition has been established it gains it's own inertia.

It is worth noticing that quite a lot of freighter operators prefer having the stairs at the starboard side, so as not to interfere with the High Loader (K-loader) on the port side. One example of practical implications overruling tradition, but it's not always easy to convince an airline it's a better idea; tradition is a powerful addiction.

Aesma · Sat Jan 26, 2013 12:17 pm

Yeah I don't know the original reason but the result is that doors on the right are often smaller so it's a self perpetuating "rule".

musang · Sat Jan 26, 2013 12:19 pm

Generally speaking, its become an accepted industry convention, so procedures are similar at all destinations. It allows uniformity in parking positions, for one thing. Said convention is the reason doors are different on the right side, as manufacturers fell into line and saw common sense. One doesn't want people boarding while fuel, catering and baggage vehicles are moving around on the same side, and segregating activities is essential from the safety standpoint.

Wasn't always the case though. I believe American had its DC-3s configurerd with boarding door on the right for some reason, and there are various images on the database of piston airliners boarding at the front right.

the other anomaly is that occasionally (and I can't think of any examples today) there were instances of airbridges built to reach the front right door.

regards - musang

JEKY · Sat Jan 26, 2013 12:45 pm

I found this interesting story from an Italian aviation forum:
The early models of aircraft engines were helical whose sense of rotation was toward the left; for this reason, the "moment of force" (or "rotational force") of the engine going in the same direction and made it easier for pilots to perform turns to the left, while those to the right, being in the opposite direction to the "rotational force" engine, required a greater movement of the rudder to compensate for such a force.
For this reason, when taxiing, pilots preferred to make curves to the left of the runway and, as a result, that side also became the main one for the commander's station on the flight deck as it offered better visibility when cornering to the left that were the most frequent .
Historically, then, the left side of the aircraft has become the principal for operations "on demand" as the boarding of passengers while the opposite side was used, by convention, the loading / unloading of baggage, refueling, refueling food, etc..
This is now a standard in airport operations around the world and allows you to physically separate the operations of "handling" of the aircraft by the movements of passengers during boarding or disembarking for added security.
Therefore, even when an aircraft is stationary on a pitch away from the "finger" (which is always located on the left side of the plane) and is embarked or disembarked via the stairs, passengers are made to always use the left side, in order to avoid interference with the vehicles carrying the luggage, fuel and food supplies.

RamblinMan · Sat Jan 26, 2013 1:18 pm

Personally I've always wondered why airports never install double-pronged jetways for widebodies so that boarding could be done at both the right and left doors. Has that ever been tried?

LoneStarMike · Sat Jan 26, 2013 1:24 pm

Quoting RamblinMan (Reply 7):
Personally I've always wondered why airports never install double-pronged jetways for widebodies so that boarding could be done at both the right and left doors. Has that ever been tried?

Yes.

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Photo © Allan Rossmore

LoneStarMike

Gr8Circle · Sat Jan 26, 2013 2:21 pm

Quoting RamblinMan (Reply 7):
Personally I've always wondered why airports never install double-pronged jetways for widebodies so that boarding could be done at both the right and left doors. Has that ever been tried?

Has been done at a few airports as the pic above proves, but would result in inefficient use of terminal and gate space.....makes more sense to have multiple jetways on the same side....

rfields5421 · Sat Jan 26, 2013 2:23 pm

Quoting RamblinMan (Reply 7):
Personally I've always wondered why airports never install double-pronged jetways for widebodies so that boarding could be done at both the right and left doors. Has that ever been tried?

I remember boarding an aircraft, probably a L-1011, on the right side once. It was in the mid-70s, probably at Miami.

Frankly it was more congested and slower to board than two jet bridges on the left side. The airline didn't do a very good job of separating out the passengers for boarding into logical groups.

Also, the flight attendants were complaining because they would have to get the passengers seated and load some last minute supplies from the aft door and bring the stuff to the front. (This was back when airlines actually fed everyone meals on transcon flights).

rutankrd · Sat Jan 26, 2013 2:35 pm

Its just a convention and is related to maritime port load side.

However there have been a few exceptions .

The DH106 Comet had no forward port doorway

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Photo © Udo K. Haafke

But did have a starboard forward doorway

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Photo © Alastair T. Gardiner - WorldAirImages

Sal deep in the Atlantic Ocean used to employ starboard loading on transiting SAA flights

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Photo © Julian Whitelaw

DTWPurserBoy · Sat Jan 26, 2013 2:49 pm

As has been mentioned, the right side of the aircraft is crowded with luggage belts, water service trucks, fueling lines, catering trucks and maintenance vehicles. Plus all of the jet bridges are built to board from the left. It would be chaotic for passengers to climb over caterers and flight attendants loading and checking galleys. The only two exceptions I know of the "galley on the right side" were most aft galleys on the 727-200's (Braniff was an exception) and some DL 757's have a galley at 2L which can be problematic. Braniff's aft galleys on the right were a nuisance because the caterers had to wait for the baggage loaders to finish loading the aft bins and move the belt loaders. LOTS of delays. Finally they started catering from the aft left door which meant you had to move the passengers seated in row 26 out of their seats to stand in the aisle while the caterers dragged heavy modules (no carts back then!) across the carpet and into the galley. This made for some VERY unhappy peeps and disgusting carpeting.

JFK used to board 747's through door 4L as well as 1L with a very long jet bridge hanging over the wing. After numerous instances of wing damage, the practice was stopped.

Back in the early 80's at the old (now demolished) international terminal at ORD there was one gate where passengers boarded at door 1R on the 747.

brilondon · Sat Jan 26, 2013 2:53 pm

This is not only tradition, but also practical. Most airport infrastructure is designed for port loading of passengers. This is standard in the world. What is shown in the pictures above is singular examples. TWA use to board their first class passengers from the starboard door to segregate them form the "riff-raff" of economy passengers. Now it is too expensive to have that kind of infrastructure at airports.

Standardization is the name of the game. If they used the starboard side of the ships from the beginning then we would be boarding from the right side.

skywaymanaz · Sat Jan 26, 2013 3:01 pm

Quoting brilondon (Reply 13):
Back in the early 80's at the old (now demolished) international terminal at ORD there was one gate where passengers boarded at door 1R on the 747.

I seem to recall in the late 80's I boarded an L-1011 from the right at JFK TWA domestic terminal (old National Sundrome). It was the only time I'd ever seen that.

Dalavia · Sat Jan 26, 2013 3:04 pm

Boarding on the port side is not universal.

In 1982 I boarded a CAAC Ilyushin Il-14 through its rear door on the starboard side.

rutankrd · Sat Jan 26, 2013 3:04 pm

Quoting brilondon (Reply 13):

This is not only tradition, but also practical. Most airport infrastructure is designed for port loading of passengers

But thats chicken and egg !

Its just a convention - practical yes but certainly NOT a documented standard as far as i know (Accepted if wrong and someone can point and reference to the appropriate document)

In many/probably most of the world airports remote or pavement parking certainly does not preclude starboard boarding as an option.

mayor · Sat Jan 26, 2013 3:18 pm

Most gate areas, particularly for narrow body a/c are crowded enough on the starboard side without having a jetway or passenger stairs (and passengers) on that side, too, not to mention just a little dangerous, too. Even with widebodies, it's not all that convenient. Whether or not it's based on tradition or not, nowadays, it's based on convenience and safety, I would think.

tdscanuck · Sat Jan 26, 2013 3:57 pm

Quoting B777LRF (Reply 3):
Tradition, nothing more really: Skipper sits at port side, passenger embark at port side. Once the tradition has been established it gains it's own inertia.

Quoting brilondon (Reply 13):
This is not only tradition, but also practical. Most airport infrastructure is designed for port loading of passengers. This is standard in the world.

Quoting rutankrd (Reply 16):
Its just a convention - practical yes but certainly NOT a documented standard as far as i know (Accepted if wrong and someone can point and reference to the appropriate document)

It carried over from ships...that was the tradition. Today it's not just tradition or convention though, it's how aircraft are designed. This passed "chicken and egg" territory a long time ago. Today, both airports and aircraft as designed to be boarded on the port side. As a result, all new aircraft are designed to board on the port side so they fit the airports, and "all" airports are designed to load aircraft on the port side so they can handle the new aircraft. It's a classic example of lock-in.

Note that, although not a formal standard in the sense that there's a governing body, all the OEM's provide documentation in their ACAPs for the intended servicing arrangement and they show boarding on the port side, so it is documented.

Quoting rutankrd (Reply 16):
In many/probably most of the world airports remote or pavement parking certainly does not preclude starboard boarding as an option.

Nothing prevents you accessing the starboard side...but that door may not be a passenger boarding door. You're not going to load a 737 through 1R.

Tom.

antoniemey · Sat Jan 26, 2013 4:18 pm

Quoting tdscanuck (Reply 18):

Nothing prevents you accessing the starboard side...but that door may not be a passenger boarding door. You're not going to load a 737 through 1R.

You could load a 737 through 1R without too much difficulty, actually... it's the MD-80s, E145s, and the like that you have to worry about.

mayor · Sat Jan 26, 2013 4:24 pm

Quoting Antoniemey (Reply 19):
You could load a 737 through 1R without too much difficulty, actually...

Wouldn't that be thru the front galley (if so equipped)? Not too convenient, IMHO.

antoniemey · Sat Jan 26, 2013 4:25 pm

Quoting mayor (Reply 20):
Wouldn't that be thru the front galley (if so equipped)? Not too convenient, IMHO.

Inconvenient, yes. Difficult, not so much. It would also be really inconvenient for the ramp crew loading the front bin, but it could be done.

AV8AJET · Sat Jan 26, 2013 4:33 pm

We deplaned from the right side door in GLA on a BA L-1011 from JFK many years ago. I have a picture of it somewhere, I hope to find it and scan it.

JAAlbert · Sat Jan 26, 2013 4:46 pm

Quoting brilondon (Reply 13):
Standardization is the name of the game. If they used the starboard side of the ships from the beginning then we would be boarding from the right side.

I wish the auto manufacturers had standardized the location of the fuel tank access in cars!

roseflyer · Sat Jan 26, 2013 5:01 pm

The way airplane cabins are laid out, the passengers would be forced to go through a galley. On airbus all the doors are the same size but on many Boeing and mcd models the doors aren't the same size.

Also a jet bridge would be positioned blocking the rams access to the cargo bay.

trent772 · Sat Jan 26, 2013 5:44 pm

Quoting tdscanuck (Reply 18):
It carried over from ships...that was the tradition.

To go back even further, any ideas on how the ships got this from?

luganopirate · Sat Jan 26, 2013 6:12 pm

This may explain it: http://tinyurl.com/6rwljxh

When I took the Queen Mary to New York recently, I'm sure we disembarked from the port side!

N1120A · Sat Jan 26, 2013 6:55 pm

Quoting DTWPurserBoy (Reply 12):
JFK used to board 747's through door 4L as well as 1L with a very long jet bridge hanging over the wing. After numerous instances of wing damage, the practice was stopped.

Don't/didn't some airports do this with narrowbodies? I think YEG does/did it for WestJet.

lemonkitty · Sat Jan 26, 2013 6:57 pm

Here is a TWA Tri-Star in PHX boarding from the right side...

LK

mayor · Sat Jan 26, 2013 6:58 pm

Quoting DTWPurserBoy (Reply 12):
JFK used to board 747's through door 4L as well as 1L with a very long jet bridge hanging over the wing. After numerous instances of wing damage, the practice was stopped.

As I recall, when DL had 747s at ORD, they boarded thru two jetways, one of which was over the wing....this was at gate H11A/B in the 70s.

rfields5421 · Sat Jan 26, 2013 7:23 pm

Quoting trent772 (Reply 25):
any ideas on how the ships got this from?

The link above describes the 'standardization' very well. Back a long time ago - ships had a steering oar off the back right side of the ship. So to avoid damage and to give maximum flexibility to docking maneuvers - they would dock left side to the pier.

Some traditions stick for a long, long time past the physical requirements which started the tradition. In today's world most of the time there is no reason for one side of the other - though port is often used, starboard is also used on many occasions. You can look at seaports across the world on Google Earth and see some ships will be tied up starboard to the pier, some port.

Over 20 years in the US Navy, I remember many ships tied up starboard side to the pier.

The last cruise I took - Seattle to Alaska and back - we tied up starboard side to the pier at every stop.

Boarding on the port side is actually more likely with aircraft than ships today - because as noted above - almost all airplanes are built / planned for the passengers to board on the left side.

EDIT - I forgot one - US Aircraft Carriers almost always dock starboard side to the pier - but that is a function of how they are designed.

[Edited 2013-01-26 11:31:57]

tdscanuck · Sat Jan 26, 2013 7:28 pm

Quoting trent772 (Reply 25):
To go back even further, any ideas on how the ships got this from?

I believe it goes back to before rudders were invented. The steering oar was mounted on the right side so, to avoid crushing it, you put the left side against the dock. I don't know why the steering oars tended to be on the right side...maybe because most people are right handed they'd prefer to use that side?

Tom.

jrosa · Sat Jan 26, 2013 7:30 pm

Embraer jets have smaller doors on the right side, those doors are used for catering loading only (and as emergency exits).

alm1 · Sat Jan 26, 2013 9:24 pm

I have seen several times Ryanair board disabled passengers through door 1R on their 737. While normal boarding is proceeding on the port site, a special lift vehicle brings disabled passenger to the other site.

rutankrd · Sat Jan 26, 2013 9:31 pm

Quoting alm1 (Reply 33):
I have seen several times Ryanair board disabled passengers through door 1R on their 737. While normal boarding is proceeding on the port site, a special lift vehicle brings disabled passenger to the other site.

That's standard practise where a scissor lifter is required.
The vehicles are much the same as catering trucks

EIDL · Sat Jan 26, 2013 9:38 pm

Quoting alm1 (Reply 33):
I have seen several times Ryanair board disabled passengers through door 1R on their 737. While normal boarding is proceeding on the port site, a special lift vehicle brings disabled passenger to the other site.

Its probably rarer to see the lift unit use 1L than 1R I'd have guessed. I've seen it only once recently - because a catering truck was attached to 1L

When you get down to very tiny scheduled aircraft, boarding from the right isn't that uncommon at all - generally 4 of the seats on a BN2 Islander are only accessible from the right.

LH707330 · Sat Jan 26, 2013 11:17 pm

Quoting JAAlbert (Reply 23):
I wish the auto manufacturers had standardized the location of the fuel tank access in cars!

That would make a lot of sense, no more playing chicken at the pump....

Quoting trent772 (Reply 25):
To go back even further, any ideas on how the ships got this from?

As others have said, it dates back to the pre-rudder days, when they used steering boards, hence the term starboard. It made more sense to avoid knocking the steering board against the dock, so the other side became "port." As to why the steering boards started out on that side, my guess is a predominance of right-handed skippers....

Viscount724 · Sat Jan 26, 2013 11:36 pm

Quoting musang (Reply 5):
Wasn't always the case though. I believe American had its DC-3s configurerd with boarding door on the right

AA's Curtiss Condors, which the DC-3s replaced, also had a right-side door.

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Photo © Terry Wall

In addition to AA being the launch customer for the DC-3 they were also the launch customer for the Convair 240 which replaced AA's DC-3s, and they required a right-side door. But by then the tendency was to standardize on the left side for passengers and subsequent Convair 340s and 440s had the door moved to the left.

240 and 340

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Photo © Bill Armstrong

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The 240 had several door options, including a left-rear passenger door which Pan Am ordered. There was also the option of rear ventral stairs (like the Martin 202/404) which Western had on their 240s.

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kanban · Sun Jan 27, 2013 1:23 am

Quoting JAAlbert (Reply 23):
I wish the auto manufacturers had standardized the location of the fuel tank access in cars!

they don't because oil companies like two sided pumps with a single directional flow through the pumping area. So they plan certain models to be left fillers and others to be right.

Before Boeing went to the moving line for 737s and 757s, they used moveable fingers too access the airplanes in FAL, the result was half were loaded using the port side, half the starboard.. never seemed to be a problem regardless of differing door sizes.

Starlionblue · Sun Jan 27, 2013 3:59 am

Quoting JEKY (Reply 6):
The early models of aircraft engines were helical whose sense of rotation was toward the left; for this reason, the "moment of force" (or "rotational force") of the engine going in the same direction and made it easier for pilots to perform turns to the left, while those to the right, being in the opposite direction to the "rotational force" engine, required a greater movement of the rudder to compensate for such a force.

This is certainly not limited to early models. The engine and prop still turn to the right (not left) in most Western pistons, thus there is a left turning tendency due to torque.* But on the ground left turning tendency is not very noticeable even in single engine planes, let alone twins. There's also the fact that many twins have counter rotating engines in order to eliminate the critical engine.

Props from Eastern Europe often rotate in the opposite direction. But the captain still sits on the left.

* In the air, there is also a left turning tendency due to p-factor, propwash and gyroscopic precession.

[Edited 2013-01-26 20:06:58]

DarkSnowyNight · Sun Jan 27, 2013 5:22 am

Quoting Gr8Circle (Reply 9):

Has been done at a few airports as the pic above proves, but would result in inefficient use of terminal and gate space.....makes more sense to have multiple jetways on the same side....

Quoting DTWPurserBoy (Reply 12):

JFK used to board 747's through door 4L as well as 1L with a very long jet bridge hanging over the wing. After numerous instances of wing damage, the practice was stopped.

Quoting mayor (Reply 29):

As I recall, when DL had 747s at ORD, they boarded thru two jetways, one of which was over the wing....this was at gate H11A/B in the 70s

KLM still does this at Term F in AMS. I always thought it was neat to get out the back and walk over the wing...

Quoting JAAlbert (Reply 23):
I wish the auto manufacturers had standardized the location of the fuel tank access in cars!

Yeah! Right behind the aft tag, where it belongs!

kl5147 · Sun Jan 27, 2013 10:31 am

see also:
Why Do All Aircraft Doors Open On Left Hand Side (by Airline2000 May 21 2000 in Civil Aviation)

kl5147 · Sun Jan 27, 2013 12:23 pm

Quoting DTWPurserBoy (Reply 12):
JFK used to board 747's through door 4L as well as 1L with a very long jet bridge hanging over the wing. After numerous instances of wing damage, the practice was stopped.

A bit off topic, but Schiphol still uses a similar systeem. But only on the port side.

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DarkSnowyNight · Sun Jan 27, 2013 1:33 pm

Quoting KL5147 (Reply 42):

Yup. That's why I mentioned it 7 hours ago. Scroll up.

HAWK21M · Mon Jan 28, 2013 6:20 am

The Right side can get cramped with servicing vehicles for Cargo loading/refuelling/Toilet service/GPU etc......The space on the Left is more freely available.

[Edited 2013-01-27 22:20:54]

musang · Mon Jan 28, 2013 5:11 pm

Quoting rutankrd (Reply 11):
The DH106 Comet had no forward port doorway

But it did sometimes use the aft port door for passengers, as several pics on the database show, sometimes with steps at 1R also.

Regards - musang

Viscount724 · Tue Jan 29, 2013 1:59 am

Quoting musang (Reply 45):
Quoting rutankrd (Reply 11):
The DH106 Comet had no forward port doorway

But it did sometimes use the aft port door for passengers, as several pics on the database show, sometimes with steps at 1R also.

Left rear door was the most common. I expect the Comet was designed without a left front passenger door since longhaul propeller aircraft of that era rarely used anything other than the left rear door, and on propeller aircraft with 2-class cabins, first class was at the rear so it made sense to board at the rear so the premium passengers didn't have to walk the length of the cabin when boarding and deplaning. Many of the 4-engine propeller types also had a door at the front but it was mostly used for crew and servicing purposes.

Some later propeller types like the Vanguard and L-188 Electra often used both front and rear doors. The Vanguard had fold-down airstairs at both doors.

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Most Electras had front airstairs but I don't think any had aistairs at the rear door. The rear door was often used mainly for galley servicing. Some Electras, including those built for QF, also lacked the front airstairs.

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Unlike the Vanguard, the Electra had no doors on the right side (except emergency exits).

cornutt · Tue Jan 29, 2013 8:24 pm

I wrote on another thread about boarding an MD-80 via the tail stairs. That was different!

rfields5421 · Tue Jan 29, 2013 10:30 pm

Quoting cornutt (Reply 47):
I wrote on another thread about boarding an MD-80 via the tail stairs. That was different!

Back 40 years ago, I made several flights on the Air Micronesia (Continental) B727 Combi. Which had cargo forward of the wing, and a passenger compartment starting about the overwing exits to the back.

Of course the plane boarded from the rear stairs.

L1 was a large cargo door.

Geezer · Sat Feb 02, 2013 6:03 am

Any "vintage" air travelers here ?

Doesn't anyone on this thread remember how you boarded a Martin 404 back in the early 60s ? Hint: it wasn't on EITHER "side" ! The things had a "fold-up" air-stairs in the bottom of the tail end of the plane that paralleled the center line of the fuselage. ( I'm not sure, but I think they were "cranked" up and down from inside. ) (They didn't use "Jet-bridges" back then, as there were no jets.)

The Martins were about the only type Piedmont used before they started getting the Fokker F-27s.

Prior to the Martins, Piedmont used old DC-3s, and you had to walk out to the ramp in the rain and climb up a small set of "stairs".......on the left side. ( my first ride in an airliner, in 1952 BTW )

Charley

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