Projects - Boarding Technologies
Overview
Background Information
The path from the boarding area to the aircraft depends on the airport configuration, the aircraft, and the available equipment. For people that have difficulty in walking, seeing, or grabbing rails, there can be many unexpected hazards in the transition between terminal and vehicle. Steep junctions at ramps, handrails that end prematurely, and uneven match heights at transition points can all lead to stumbling and falling.
The goal of NCAT’s Boarding Technologies Projects is to provide airlines and airports with regulations as well as new technologies for boarding that can be used at all airports and with all aircraft, that work well for most passengers, that are cost effective, and that are readily available. The project results will also be applicable to over-the-road buses and passenger rail vehicles.
NCAT used the House of Quality approach and is developing new guidelines for boarding technologies. The steps completed include:
- Identifying and benchmarking existing boarding technologies
- Surveying selected airports to determine the extent of implementation of the various technologies.
- Conducting focus groups of passengers and passenger service personnel to identify strengths and weaknesses of existing boarding technologies.
Current project work includes:
Developing and evaluating possible alternative technologies, including implementation cost, and preparing new guidelines for cost effective boarding technologies and disseminating these recommendations to airlines and passenger terminals for air, rail and bus modes.
Aircraft Boarding Technologies
The path from the boarding area to the aircraft can be very different depending on the airport, the aircraft, and the available equipment. For persons that have difficulty in walking, seeing, or grabbing rails, there can be many unexpected hazards in this transition. Steep junction ramps, handrails that end prematurely, uneven match heights at transition points, all of these can lead to stumbling and falling.
For large aircraft the use of jetways is almost universal. Regional aircraft, however, may be accommodated using ramps, special lifts, bridges for conventional jetways, specially designed jetways, or the stairs built into the aircraft.
For persons in wheelchairs a transition to a boarding chair is required and even then, the transition may or may not be easy and dignified. Airlines are not allowed to hand carry people up the boarding stairs. Therefore when a jetway is not available, special equipment must be used to get the boarding chair into the aircraft door.
In many respects this simple ramp is a good solution. It works for the boarding chair, it is better than stairs for persons with limited mobility and all passengers enter the same way. This is a good example of the idea of Universal Design, a solution that works well for everyone.
