April 14, 2021 / When the Covid pandemic first hit, airlines limited capacity on planes, blocked middle seats, eliminated change fees, and more. Now, as the world is slowly getting back toward some resemblance of normalcy, many are also reverting back to their pre-pandemic policies.

As reported by travelandleisure.com, the latest air carrier to make a change of this kind is United Airlines (UA). The company recently announced that as of April 15, 2021, its flights will no longer board from back to front. Instead, flights will resume its Better Boarding technique, described as a five-group, two-lane boarding system.

“Last year, United temporarily switched to boarding from the back of the aircraft to the front to improve social distancing,” Maddie King, a United Airlines spokeswoman, told  Travel + Leisure. “Now that more customers are returning, this can result in customers gathering in the gate area to wait near the boarding door for their row to be called. This gathering defeats the social distancing purpose of back-to-front boarding”.

As part of the Better Boarding process, groups will be called one at a time and funnel through two lanes to have their tickets scanned. Passengers can use the United app or opt in for text messages to receive an alert when boarding has begun, eliminating the need to crowd at the gate. (Photo United Airlines)