Delta Air Lines announces plans to change how passengers board

Travel

By Adriana Diaz

You may now begin boarding this way.

Delta Air Lines will soon update the way it boards passengers.

The airline will begin boarding passengers using numbered zones starting May 1.

For example, boarding will begin with pre-boarding, then Delta One or First Class customers boarding in Zone 1, followed by Diamond Medallions and Delta Premium Select customers boarding in Zone 2.

Zones 1 through 4 will use the Sky Priority lane and Zones 5 through 8 will use the General Boarding lane, the same way they do today.

The numbered zones will be printed on customers’ boarding passes.

“It’s a small change, but one with big potential to make the boarding process less stressful and more streamlined — for both our customers and our agents,” a Delta spokesperson told The Post.

The airline grouped travelers by numbered zones until 2019 when they switched to their current process — boarding by named categories (i.e. cabins, status and ticket types) — but recently announced plans to revert back to zones.

“While a simple change, this transition to numbered zones will provide customers more clarity into the boarding sequence and make the boarding process more intuitive — especially for infrequent travelers and/or customers who might face a language barrier at the gate,” the spokesperson told The Post.

“Numbered zones will also align more closely with our joint venture and international partners, providing international customers a more simplified, consistent experience when traveling on mixed-metal itineraries. ”

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian previously commented on the boarding process explaining that simplicity is key. “We have found that actually just boarding people and getting people moving through the plane is the fastest,” Bastian said on “Today.”

“Every time you add another feature, it gets more complicated.”