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Boarding Planes Back to Front is a Bad Idea

It turns out that back-to-front boarding of planes doesn't work as well as the free-for-all.

Analysis of airplane boarding via space-time geometry and random matrix theory

We show that airplane boarding can be asymptotically modeled by 2-dimensional Lorentzian geometry. Boarding time is given by the maximal proper time among curves in the model. Discrepancies between the model and simulation results are closely related to random matrix theory. We then show how such models can be used to explain why some commonly practiced airline boarding policies are ineffective and even detrimental.

A human-readable form is available at Nature.com. Obligatory data warehouse reference: Imagine if they could turn the planes 15 minutes faster. I think we have a long way to go in BI before we can offer decent modeling of problems like this.

Posted by Mark Thursday, December 15, 2005 12:17:00 PM | permalink |

Comments:

Another very valuable insight.

Keep up the great work, Mark.

BTW I liked your ping pong in a matrix link and your comments very much too!

# posted by  Anonymous : 9:21 AM

 

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