Airlines Use This Psychological Trick to Cause 'Fear and Anxiety' in Customers and Boost Profits

It's no real secret that the boarding process for most airlines throughout the country is quite inefficient and clunky. However, the truth is that most airlines actually want it that way, as that experience helps them extract more money from their customers.

Recently, Southwest Airlines made the switch from its longstanding democratic open-seating model to a new assigned seating model, reigniting the conversation about the overall boarding process amongst the major airlines.

The new assigned seating model has proven to be far less efficient than Southwest's previous open-seating model. However, that hasn't stopped Southwest and essentially every other airline from sticking with the inefficient boarding process.

As one expert explains, the reason airlines are so insistent on sticking with these clunky boarding procedures is that they are able to profit from a psychological trick that causes "fear and anxiety" amongst travelers.

Not the Most Efficient

Most frequent fliers know that the vast majority of airlines board their flights using boarding groups, which are often split between classes and prioritize rewards club members and those who pay extra for priority boarding.

There are obviously far more efficient ways to board a plane, and Southwest Airlines used to use one of them. For decades, Southwest used a democratic open-seating policy where the boarding order was determined by check-in time, and passengers simply chose any seat on the plane.

That boarding process was far more efficient than any of Southwest's competitors and allowed the airline to have a competitive advantage over the other major carriers with its quick turnover times as a result.

However, Southwest decided to change its boarding policy to match its competitors, moving to an open-seating policy.

“It’s an extremely significant change for Southwest. It’s one of the most monumental changes that Southwest has made as an airline because it changes a business process that the airline has used for 54 years,” Henry Harteveldt, president of Atmosphere Research, a travel industry analytics firm, told Zach Wichter of USA Today for Wichter's weekly Cruising Altitude column. “Southwest recognized it could be much more competitive and much more profitable by embracing assigned seating and adding extra legroom seats. … File this under, if you can’t beat them, join them.”

It's worth noting that Southwest says that the change to assigned seating came following feedback from customers desiring such a change. However, it's not coincidental that the airline stands to profit from the move, too. And they aren't the only airline to utilize boarding groups; they have just received most of the headlines due to their recent switch.

Even though boarding by group is nowhere near the most efficient way to load an airplane from a time perspective, it does allow airlines to monetize the boarding process in a way that would be impossible in a more efficient system.

"Airlines prioritize money, which they can extract from customers more easily with a less efficient boarding process," Wichter wrote.

Causing 'Fear and Anxiety'

The boarding process is one of the most stressful aspects of flying on a commercial airline, with everyone pushing to get onto the plane and ensure there is enough space for their carry-on luggage.

“You can sense the fear and anxiety among the travelers at the gate wondering if they will get their carry-on bags in the overhead bins,” Harteveldt said. “The reason that people value priority boarding isn’t because they want to be squeezed into an airline seat for an extra 10-20 minutes, it’s because they want more certainty that they’ll be able to get their carry-on into overhead bins.”

Harteveldt argues that the airlines thrive on this "fear and anxiety" and take advantage of it by selling premium tickets with priority boarding or even simply selling priority boarding access on its own.

“Airline finance teams are happy about the fact that people are anxious about boarding,” Harteveldt said.

Psychological Trick

The airlines are making use of a psychological trick: manufactured scarcity anxiety.

The reality is, airlines could reduce carry-on congestion in a number of ways, like allowing free checked bags (as Southwest did for decades), charging for carry-ons, creating a surplus of overhead bin space, or moving to a more efficient boarding process. But they don't, because the threat of not having enough overhead bin space is what makes people pay for priority boarding in the first place.

Airlines have thrived on psychological tricks for years, and this is just another example.