In Atlanta, the Delta flight was boarded front to back. Passengers brought carry-ons that took time to store. Air attendents kept announcing that passengers should first find their seats, allow people to pass and then store their carry-ons. It was a tedious procedure because people had to wait a long time to board.

My question:

Why don't they just load the plane from the back to front?

I've never heard of any plane being boarded front to back. Are you sure that was the order, or was it frequent fliers with priority boarding privileges who were seated in front?

100% sure. I spoke to someone who had used the same flight one month earlier. Same situation.

If you board back to front, many of the people in back will drop their carryons somewhere in the front, so when the front passengers board, they will end up stowing their carryons wherever there is an opening, which is often in the back. Deplaning then becomes a circus.

Delta board planes by zones.

Delta board planes by zones. Indeed they do. They take the front zones first.

Those are the DL medallions who get the low zone number. Incidentally, they also choose the seats in front. They didn't board first BECAUSE they choose the front seats.

Usually DL's boarding zones are 1: first/business class (who would be in front). 2: elite frequent flyers (whose seats might be anywhere, but who have priority for the first rows in economy), then a series of zones throughout the plane, generally back to front, but not sequentially. I remember the discussion when they started this approach, with zone 3 containing x rows in the back, then zone 4 x rows toward the front, then zone 5 x rows toward the back, etc. Something about as people in zone 3 were settling toward the back, zone 4 folks would be settling in their area, rather than waiting in the aisle all the way back to where the zone 3 folks were.

I don't know if this has changed recently (thanks to Zone 2).

that's the same question I asked, rk. schuler is 100% sure that DL boards from the front first. Those were not elite level frequent fliers who boarded first and had front seats.

He/she spoke to someone who had used the same flight one month earlier. Same situation

Zone boarding doesn't mean just by rows. I don't know DL's program specifically, but supposedly, you may find them boarding some people in the window seats first, even if they're near the front. That's the whole reason to use zones, and not just go by row numbers.

On all our recent Delta flights they have boarded by zone (kind of reminds me of Southwest) and the back of the plane is definitely the last to board. We really miss Northwest.

Here is how the boarding order is supposed to go for Delta:

- First/Business Class
- Delta Diamonds, Platinums, & Golds + SkyTeam Elite Plus (e.g. Air France Platinum) + Alaska MVP Golds
- Delta Silvers & SkyTeam Elite (e.g. Air France Silver) + other partner elites (e.g. Alaska MVP)
- Rear third of the plane
- All remaining rows.

I don't remember where 'those requiring assistance' fall, but I'm sure they are in among the first couple of groups. Also, even after the zones for first/business and elites are called, Delta has the 'breezeway' that allows these customers to cut to the front of the line.

At the end of the day, by the time you are through with the first 3 groups on some flights, I wouldn't be shocked to see 1/2 to 2/3 of the plane full. Moreover, as nobody likes a middle seat, you could see aisle and window seats occupied right up to the back of the plane, making it appear as if even more of the plane is full. For example, I am Platinum and will be taking a trip in a couple of days, yet have chosen a seat that is in row 29 of a 44 row plane, which is 2/3 of the way back.

Now, gate agents don't always follow procedure, and they often tend to run the last couple of zones together, but the policy is certainly not to board front to back and it is likely you simply ended up on a flight that was full of elites.