United pioneers jet bridge boarding

8 September 2006

United has taken an
innovative approach to the boarding process and has just become the first
and only airline in the world to operate a fully automated dual-end jet
bridge.Based on the latest technology, the over-the-wing loading bridge
enables passengers to board and deplane simultaneously from the front and
rear doors on narrow-body aircraft—effectively cutting in half the
boarding and deplaning time for United customers at Gate B15 at the Denver
International Airport. The airline expects to expand the use of the
dual-end jet bridge to additional gates and other airports in the near
future.
“Using this high-tech bridge system improves our service to customers
by speeding the time it takes them to get on and off our planes,” said Alex
Marren, United’s vice president of Operational Services, United Express and
Ted. “Our customers—especially those in the rear of the plane—are
already telling us they love the convenience of the new bridges. Also,
because we can board customers faster, we are able to eventually add more
flights without adding new aircraft.”
The fully automated aspect of the bridge system also gives United
employees more time to focus on customers as it is guided and driven
completely by a computer system and does not require a person to operate
it. Based on the latest technology, the system was developed by Dewbridge
Airport Systems and uses a combination of artificial vision and multiple
redundant sensors to find the aircraft doors and drive the front and rear
bridges to their docking positions—all without human input.