# Evaluating Classical Airplane Boarding Methods for Passenger Health during Normal Times
## 6 Conclusions  
As the restrictions for the airplane boarding process imposed by the occurrence of the novel coronavirus begin to wane, the challenge becomes how to reduce the health risks to passengers during normal (non-pandemic) times. In this paper, we analyzed through an agent-based approach the airplane boarding methods used in practice by the airlines in terms of the health metrics used during the pandemic situation and new health metrics that apply when there is no social distancing. In short, we provide an overview on the performance of the airplane boarding methods used in practice from a health perspective. Especially because epidemic situations might occur in the future before they are acknowledged by the medical scientific community, airlines may want to assess the health risks to their passengers when deciding upon an airplane boarding method. Based on the numerical results of agent-based simulations, the reverse pyramid method provides favorable health outcomes for important metrics, while at the same time providing the shortest time to complete boarding of the airplane. Airlines interested in passenger health and short boarding times should seriously consider using the reverse \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Rank**} & \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Airplane Boarding Method**} \\ \cline{2-5}  & **Aisle Seat Risk** & **Middle Seat Risk** & **Window Seat Risk** & **Type-1 Seat Interferences** \\ \hline
**1.** & Reverse pyramid & Back-to-front-by-row & Back-to-front-by-row & Reverse pyramid \\ \hline
**2.** & Back-to-front-by-row & Back-to-front-by-5-groups & Back-to-front-by-5-groups & WilMA \\ \hline
**3.** & WilMA & Back-to-front-by-4-groups & Back-to-front-by-4-groups & Open seating method \\ \hline
**4.** & Back-to-front-by-5-groups & Back-to-front-by-3-groups & Back-to-front-by-3-groups & Back-to-front-by-5-groups \\ \hline
**5.** & Back-to-front-by-4-groups & Reverse pyramid & Reverse pyramid & Back-to-front-by-5-groups \\ \hline
**6.** & Back-to-front-by-3-groups & WilMA & Random with assigned seats & Back-to-front-by-4-groups \\ \hline
**7.** & Open seating method & Open seating method & WilMA & Back-to-front-by-3-groups \\ \hline
**8.** & Random with assigned seats & Random with assigned seats & Open seating method & Random with assigned seats \\ \hline \hline \multicolumn{5}{c}{**Airplane Boarding Method**} \\ \cline{2-5}  & **Type-2-3-4 Seat Interferences** & **Aisle Standing Risk** & **Individual Boarding Time** & **Boarding Time** \\ \hline
**1.** & Reverse pyramid & WilMA & Reverse pyramid & Reverse pyramid \\ \hline
**2.** & WilMA & Reverse pyramid & WilMA & WilMA \\ \hline
**3.** & Back-to-front-by-row & Open seating method & Open seating method & Open seating method \\ \hline
**4.** & Back-to-front-by-5-groups & Random with assigned seats & Random with assigned seats & Back-to-front-by-3-groups \\ \hline
**5.** & Back-to-front-by-4-groups & Back-to-front-by-3-groups & Back-to-front-by-3-groups & Back-to-front-by-4-groups \\ \hline
**6.** & Back-to-front-by-3-groups & Back-to-front-by-4-groups & Back-to-front-by-4-groups & Random with assigned seats \\ \hline
**7.** & Random with assigned seats & Back-to-front-by-5-groups & Back-to-front-by-5-groups & Back-to-front-by-5-groups \\ \hline
**8.** & Open seating method & Back-to-front-by-row & Back-to-front-by-row & Back-to-front-by-row \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 11: Methods ranking based on the considered indicators in the S1 luggage scenario. pyramid method. The WilMA method may be the second-best boarding method, and random boarding with assigned seats may be the worst. The best-performing airplane boarding method in Table 11, reverse pyramid, has not been commonly used in practice by the airlines. To successfully use some of these best-performing boarding methods in practice, the airports need to offer additional infrastructure and to better monitor the entire boarding process.