Effects of a hand luggage guiding system on airplane boarding time and passenger experience

<p>This research investigates whether a hand luggage guiding system in overhead bins decreases boarding time and improves boarding experience during aircraft boarding process. A guiding system was developed which allocates and displays the passengers luggage space in the overhead bin. The allocated space is guided by a light strip in front of the display that blinks when a passenger comes close to their allocated luggage space. This system was tested in a Boeing 737 test fuselage. Compared to regular boarding, a boarding time reduction of 16 to 23 seconds was estimated using the hand luggage guiding system in groups of 18 passengers compared with the traditional way of boarding. This corresponds to 3 to 4 minutes of boarding time reduction on a Boeing 737-800 aircraft with 189 passengers. In addition, the boarding experience of the new system was significantly higher than regular boarding. Although this system has potential, it is recommended to test it while boarding in an actual flight with passengers.</p>