SESSION TOPIC: BOARDING GATE AND FLIGHT

FINALIZING PROCEDURES

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the session you will be able to:

1.Describe the elements of the boarding procedures

2.Describe the boarding gate layout
3.Practice boarding gate advisory
4. Know the procedures required before the passengers board the aircraft
5. Identify the elements required to finalize boarding and flight crew to close
the
aircraft door.

KEY TERMS:

Boarding gate Passenger service message

Public address system Teletype passenger message
Boarding gate reader Passenger transfer message
General declaration Passenger final sales
Manifest Load message

CORE CONTENT:

Introduction to the Boarding Gate

A boarding gate is the portion of an airport that connects an aircraft with its
payload. Commercial airport gates have airside components to facilitate passenger
boarding and aircraft ground handling.
Gates may include a waiting area for passengers before boarding their flight.
While the exact specifications vary from airport to airport and country to country, most
gates consist of seating, a counter, and an entry or exit doorway leading to the aircraft.
Gates adjacent to a passenger concourse may be connected by way of a jet bridge or
they may require that passengers board from the apron directly using mobile stairs or
airstairs built into the aircraft itself. Remote gates also use stairs for boarding but require
ground transportation to move passengers between the terminal and the aircraft parking
location.
At most gates a single doorway opens to a jet bridge which leads to the aircraft
door depending on aircraft model. If the gate is being used for departures, domestic
arrivals, or international arrivals coming from airports with preclearance for the
destination airport, a door that goes to a waiting area will be opened and a hallway
to customs will be closed, preventing passengers from entering into the customs hall.
For international arrivals who are coming from cities that do not have preclearance, the
door leading to the waiting area is closed and passengers are directed to a hallway where
they can either go into the customs hall, if they end at that city, or clear customs and
pre-board security if they have a connecting flight.
Before the era of the jet bridge or jetway, airline passengers embarked onto the
aircraft from ground level via airstairs. If initially indoors, passengers would exit the
waiting area through a door to the outside and then passengers would proceed to the
airstairs leading to the aircraft door. This method is still used for boarding smaller
planes or boarding at smaller airports.

Types of Boarding Gates

There are two types of boarding gate setup designs that airports may use: gate
boarding and remote bay boarding.

Gate Boarding
"Gate boarding" indicates that the aircraft is parked next to the terminal. The
aircraft door is opened on to the jet bridge which serves as a direct passageway from
the terminal to the aircraft. Upon turning in their boarding passes, the passengers will.
walk a short distance down the slopping jet bridge leading to the aircraft. Gate boarding
is not only efficient for airlines but also comfortable for passengers who do not wish to
be exposed to the outside weather. Therefore, most airlines prefer to operate with this
boarding gate setup design because it increases customer satísfaction. However, the
airport management generally charges higher fees for the use of gate boarding.

Gate boarding – aircraft door is attached to the jet

bridge going to the airport terminal
Remote bay boarding
The remote bay boarding method is used when an aircraft is parked away from
the terminal whereby passengers are either required to walk or be transported via a bus
service. Passengers must board the flight by climbing up a staircase or boarding ramp.
Remote bay boarding is less efficient compared to the gate boarding method because it
requires extra coordination of buses and personnel.

Remote bay boarding – the aircraft is parked away from the

passenger terminal. Passengers are transported to the aircraft
by bus or by walking to board the aircraft via the airstairs.

Boarding Stages
The boarding gate procedures may be categorized into three stages: preparation,
boarding process, and final stage.

Preparation
Ground agents are required to be present at the gate area at least 30 minutes in
advance so as to execute the necessary preparations before the boarding process
commences so that appropriate checks may be carried out. The preparation checks
include cleaning checks, catering checks, and cabin crew briefing.
Cleaning
Aircraft cabin cleaning is often performed by an outsourced department. The
cabin cleaning service ensures the passengers' comfort and safety. The cabin cleaning
process includes removing trash from the seat pockets and replacing in-flight magazines
and safety information cards.

Catering
In-flight food items are prepared by a catering company that may be a subsidiary
of the airline or outsourced. The process of catering includes loading the food items
from the caterer's manufacturing site to the aircraft and removing the uneaten food from
previous flights.

Cabin Crew Briefing

Cabin crew briefing involves a short conversation between the ground agent and
the flight attendants. The ground agent informs the purser (lead tight attendant for the
flight) of any necessary information, including planned passenger load, established time
for boarding, block of passenger seats to be used as crew rest passengers with disability
and special needs, boarding procedures and inoperative items which will remain out of
order during the flight.

Planned passenger load

The planned passenger load is the number of passengers broken down by each
class of service. This allows the purser to allocate the number of flight attendants
in the different cabin classes.

Establishing the boarding time

Before passengers are allowed to board, the flight attendants require time to
perform the aircraft equipment safety checks. Establishing the boarding time with the
crew members allows the flight attendants to have sufficient time to carry out the check.
This check warrants that all necessary equipment in the cabin are available and are in
working conditions. Equipment check includes ensuring that the emergency slide and
oxygen systems are functioning, the first aid kit is in place and no life jacket is missing,
et cetera. In addition to the safety checks, other duties include preparing in-flight service
for first and business class and checks to ensure the correct number and types of special
meals are loaded by the catering service. By establishing a boarding time, both ground
agents and crew have a joint agreement with regard to the passengers' boarding process.
Crew rest seats
Different aircraft vary in terms of configurations and designs. Some aircraft do
not have crew bunks (a resting compartment located inside the cabin and away from
the passengers is used by crew members during their off-duty time on a flight).
Therefore, passenger's seats may be blocked for flight attendants as their resting area
during certain long-haul flights. In this case, a specific number of seats will be reserved
to be used as crew rest seats.

Passengers with disability and special needs

Ground agents are required to advise the flight attendants of the special needs
of passengers including the number of passengers who require wheelchairs, infants on
board the flight, deportee passengers, passengers who will be taking pets onto the cabin,
unaccompanied minors, and passengers who have purchased extra seats.

Boarding Process
Boarding procedures ensure that only ticketed passengers board the correct
aircraft for their destination. Boarding procedures ensure on-time departures by taking
place within a scheduled time period. Boarding procedures were established to ensure
that passengers are boarded onto the right airplane at the right time and are seated in
assigned or available seats. To accomplish this task, a number of steps are taken before,
during, and after passengers get onto their aircraft. While the aircraft is being prepared
for boarding, there are different duties that the ground agents must accomplish before
allowing passengers to pass through the gate. These duties include passenger document
checks, boarding announcements, controlling the boarding sequence, boarding pass
scans, and locating passengers.

Passenger documents check

All passengers are required to present a passport for international flights and an
identity (ID) card or passport for domestic flights at the boarding gate. Airlines are
required to ensure that every individual who checks in for a flight is rightly accounted
for. This is a security measure to prevent terrorists or illegal immigrants from boarding
a flight.

Boarding announcements
To obtain passengers' attention at the boarding gate area, necessary are made
via the airport PA system. Boarding gate announcements follow a structure that
includes the airline and the flight details; the main message (such as paging for a
passenger or announcing a delay) which is followed by a "thank you." Generally, the
announcements that ground agents make during the boarding process are divided into
three categories: welcome and review announcement, boarding announcement, and
final boarding announcement.

Welcome and review announcement

One of the main objectives for this announcement is to identify the flight and
destination information to ensure that the passengers are either waiting at the right gate
or will proceed to the gate. The following is an example of a welcome and review
announcement:
• "Good (morning/afternoon/evening), ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Leaf
Air Flight LF 120 bound for Bombay. Our boarding process will begin in approximately
15 minutes. When boarding begins, please have your boarding pass and passport ready
for identification check. Passengers with special needs and those traveling with infants
and small children will be invited for priority boarding. Thank you for flying with Leaf
Air. We wish you a pleasant flight."

United Airlines’ Gate Agent announcing before the boarding.

Boarding Announcement
With different boarding strategies, airlines will have different boarding
announcements. Boarding announcements are made frequently to notify and update
passengers on the current boarding stage. This is especially important for passengers
who have just arrived at the boarding gate area. This is an example of a boarding
announcement:
• "Good (morning/afternoon/evening), ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Leaf
Air Flight LF 120 bound for Bombay. The flight is now ready for boarding. At this time,
we would like to invite passengers with small children to board as well as our first class,
business class, and gold member passengers to board on the left-hand side of the gate
and economy class passengers seated between rows 40 and 60 to board on the right-
hand side of the gate. When boarding, please have your boarding pass and passport
ready for identification check. Thank you for flying with Leaf Air. We wish you a
pleasant flight."

Final Boarding Announcement

This announcement is made to emphasize the approaching departure time and
urge passengers who have not boarded the flight to do so immediately. At this point in
the boarding process, specific passengers who have yet to board may be called by their
names over the PA system. Below is an example of this:
• "Good (morning/afternoon/evening), ladies and gentlemen. May I have your
attention please? Leaf Air, Flight LF 120 bound for Bombay is paging for the last
passenger, Mr. Justine Lance. Mr. Justine Lance, please proceed to Gate A12 for
immediate boarding. The flight is scheduled for an on-time departure. Thank you."

Boarding Sequences
Based on the airline's marketing strategies, different airlines have different
boarding sequences. For example, airlines with one class of service will board
differently from those with two or more classes of service. Some airlines board their
passengers by their different travel classes, while some low-cost airlines allow
passengers who pay an extra fee to board first. In general, the majority of airlines board
their passengers based on the passenger travel class. In this case, the boarding sequences
are pre-boarding, first class, business class, and economy class.

Boarding Pass Scan

At the gate area, before the passenger reaches the door to the jet bridge, there
will be boarding gate reader (BGR) machines installed at the workstation. These
machines assist the ground agent in ensuring a smooth boarding process. The BGRS
are connected to the departure control system (DCS), the system used for check-in.
When the ground agent collects the boarding pass from the insert the boarding pass into
the BGR. The BGR will then read the barcode or scan the magnetic strip of the boarding
pass. Information will be transmitted to the DCS system and the passenger will show
as "boarded" (O/B) in the system.

Locating remaining passengers

Approximately 20 minutes prior to the flight departure time, nearly 80% of the
passengers should have boarded the aircraft. To ensure an on-time departure, ground
agents are often required to locate the missing passengers within the airside departure
area in the airport terminal building.
Preparing Final Documents
Prior to the flight pushing back from the gate, the ground agent is required to
have all final documentation prepared for the flight attendants. The documents required
are used by flight attendants for their in-flight services as well as documentation
required for the immigration department in the country of destination.
The documents include the following:
• manifest
• general declaration (GD)
• arrival immigration form
• other airline promotional documents

Manifest
A manifest is a legal document required by the International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO) containing a detailed name list of the passengers. This
information helps the flight attendants to identify passengers with special requests
pertaining to meals ordered. With a full flight of more than 300 passengers on board a
Boeing 743 or Airbus 380, the manifest becomes a very important source of information
to assist the flight attendants in identifying the different passengers so as to deliver their
requested special in-flight services. The following information is included in the
manifest:
• Flight number
• Date
• Origin or destination
• Total passengers on board
• Breakdown of number of passengers in each class
• Passenger’s name
• Passenger’s seat number
• Passenger’s special request
• Passenger’s FFP status

General declaration
The general declaration (GEN DEC) is a document required for international
flights. This is a document that displays the information about the crew members who
are on duty for the flight. The craft commander (also known as the captain) is
responsible for completing the GEN DEC. This document includes details of the crew
(names, gender, positions, dates of birth, and passport numbers) as well as the aircraft
registration number and the itinerary of the flight. The GEN DEC serves as "guarantee"
to the immigration authority by the airline to ensure that the crew members listed will
leave the country on the nominated flight or date.
Immigration form
An arrival card, also known as an incoming passenger card, landing card or
disembarkation card, is a legal document used by immigration authorities of many
countries to obtain information about incoming passenger not provided by the
passenger's passport and to provide a record of a person's entry into the country. It is
also a document given by the flight attendants during the flight so that it is ready and
filled up when they arrive to the immigration.

Example Landing card of United Example Landing card of the Philippines

Kingdom

Quarantine and customs form

The quarantine and customs form is a document that requires passengers to
declare their health status and the various personal belongings they are bringing into
the destination country such as the amount of currency, the value of their personal
belongings, and whether they are taking any food or animal products into the country,
et cetera. Not all countries require passengers to make declarations and therefore, only
flights departing for specific destinations will have this form on board.

Finalizing the flight

The last step for the airline gate agent is to finalize a flight. The finalizing steps
take place when the flight has taken off from the airport which changes the flight status
from open to post-departure. The check-in and gate process of the flight will then be
completed. The passengers' frequent-flier program accounts will be also updated with
the newly credited miles.
At this finalizing stage, copies of the teletype passenger manifest (TPM),
passenger service messages (PSM), passenger transfer messages (PTM), passenger
final sales messages (PFS), and the load messages (LDM) are required to be sent to
different departments of the airline back offices, the next station for the flight, and a
copy for station filing.

Reporting Passenger Load

Airlines are required to submit the final passenger figures to the airport authority
after the flight departs. These days, most airlines collect the facilities charge (PFC) on
behalf of the airport at the point of passenger sale. The figures allow the airport
authority to accurately calculate the tax that they will receive from the airline. The
ground agent of the airline is required to submit the following figures:

• Total number of passengers

• Total number of children and infants
• Transit passengers and their inbound flight information
• Passengers exempted from tax (diplomats, government officials, et
cetera)

As children, infants, transit passengers, and other special passengers are

exempted from tax, the airport authority requires the individual airlines to submit the
above-mentioned information so that the appropriate charges may be collected from the
airlines.

In-Text Activity
Passenger Boarding Bridge Interface PBB Interface
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnfFzW33G6s

A Fast Boarding Way No Airline Will Ever Use

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v8_h2lB_Oo

AIRLINE PA ANNOUNCEMENTS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTNZXQ53rNY
Summary

The efficient management of the boarding gate tasks is essential for on-time
departures. To ensure the safety and comfort of the passengers, airline personnel are
required to prepare the aircraft prior to boarding. Such preparations include cabin
cleaning of aircraft, loading of inflight meals, and aircraft safety and security checks.
Boarding gates are set up differently based on the parking location of the aircraft.
When an aircraft is parked at the terminal, passengers board the aircraft using the jet
bridge. Conversely, if the aircraft is parked at the remote parking area, passengers will
be required to walk or take a shuttle bus to the remote bay area.
When the flight is ready, the ground agent working within the gate area makes
the necessary public announcements to notify passengers of the various boarding stages.
After all passengers have boarded the flight. The ground agent will be required to
deliver the required documents to the flight attendants before the aircraft door closes
for departure.
The status of the flight will be changed to post-departure after the aircraft has
taken off, after which the ground agents are responsible for preparing all reports and
filings before the flight is declared complete.

Self-Assessment
1. From the In text Activity example of Airline PA Announcements, create your own
version by doing the same announcements mentioned in the video.

2. Why manifest has to be prepared before leaving the airport? Enumerate the
Importance.

3. What do you think is more efficient in boarding the passengers, gate boarding or
remote bay boarding? Explain.
 References

Harris, W. (2018). Concourses and Terminals. Retrieved from:

https://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/flight/modern/airport.htm#pt4

Law, C. et Doerfelin M. (2014). Introduction to Airline Ground Service

U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration (2018). Airport

Terminal Planning. Retrieved from: https://www.faa.gov/