Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian Weighs in on United’s Controversial New Boarding Process

Ed Bastian, the CEO of Delta Airlines, appeared on The Today Show on Friday morning. During his segment, he gave his opinion on United’s controversial new boarding process. The airline announced its new strategy last month, which sees the dispersion of economy passengers over four boarding groups.

One of the sub-groups is now devoted entirely to customers traveling in middle seats. Previously, middle-seat and aisle travelers boarded in the same group. Aisle passengers will now board after middle-seaters.

Many aisle-loving passengers were upset because they felt the new process would allow early boarders to reserve all of the overhead luggage space for themselves. United responded to this by installing larger overhead baggage compartments, which they assured travelers would hold one carry-on from everyone.

One person who’s still not convinced about the new process is Bastian. He had a very sarcastic response to United’s enhanced procedures.

Noting that Delta has tried "every which way to board customers," the CEO remarked: "We have found that actually just boarding people and getting people moving through the plane is the fastest. Every time you add another feature, it gets more complicated."

Bastian did, however, leave himself some wiggle room. He conceded that if United’s method proves more reliable, he has no qualms about adopting it. “[If they] crack that nut better, we'll certainly copy them," he said.

United dubbed their new process the “WILMA” method, which denotes the boarding order, standing for “window, middle, aisle.” The airline estimates that this will save each flight up to two minutes in boarding time. In turn, United will be able to run more flights and offer more route options.