Evaluating Classical Airplane Boarding Methods Focusing on Higher-Risk Passengers during Post-Pandemics

Abstract

As the global civil aviation industry recovers and the restrictions imposed because of COVID-19 on the process of aircraft boarding gradually diminish, the issue of how to reduce health risks in special populations who are at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 during Post-pandemics has become urgent. In this paper, we propose a health metric for the health risks of boarding groups based on the seat risk metrics used during the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling the comparison of health risks among boarding groups. Secondly, based on the agent-based model using NetLogo, we evaluate the health risk of boarding groups from the boarding methods currently used in airline practice, using the health and efficiency metrics used during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, it was confirmed that health risk was associated with the boarding group sequences. As a result, specific boarding groups for high-risk groups are proposed when using the classical boarding methods for passengers at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19. Our results show that considering the placement of high-risk groups in the reverse pyramid fourth boarding group will contribute to a faster boarding for all methods (20.5% reduction in time) and a lower risk of transmission within this group (73.6% reduction) compared with the standard random boarding procedure.