Methods used in boarding airline passengers could affect their health, according to a study that found that one typical method of boarding — filling the front seats first, followed by seats in the middle and rear sections — may increase the risk of transmitting infectious diseases.
A better method would be to board passengers in two groups whose assigned seats are scattered throughout the airplane, instead of three groups whose assigned seats are all in the same general area, said the report, published May 31 in Physical Review E, a journal of the American Physical Society and the subject of further discussion in statements issued in August and September by Arizona State University (ASU), Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and Florida State University, where the authors work.1
“There’s been a lot of boarding and deplaning research framed in terms of speed and efficiency, but we aren’t looking for efficiency — we’re looking to decrease the spre…
