AA tries a new tack with ‘gate lice’

American Airlines is trying a new tool to discourage so-called ‘gate lice,’ passengers who crowd the boarding gate and try to board before their group is called, often because they are afraid of not finding overhead space.

The airline has set gate scanners to notify the gate agent if a passenger is not yet entitled to board, and the passenger is then sent back to wait for his or her group. The trial is taking place at selected airports including Albuquerque and Tucson.

If the system is successful on a system-wide basis, it could reduce crowding and possibly bad tempers at gates. For the airline, it also makes the elite status that leads to priority boarding groups seem more valuable, and encourage more travelers to sign up for credit cards that raise priority.

American currently uses a system of ten different boarding groups, often with seemingly overlapping qualifications.

• ConciergeKey: ConciergeKey members
• Group 1: First class, active-duty U.S. military members with military ID, business class on a two-class international plane, Executive Platinum elite members
• Group 2: Platinum Pro elite members, Oneworld Emerald elite members and business class on a three-class plane
• Group 3: Platinum elite members and Oneworld Sapphire elite members
• Group 4: Gold elite members, Oneworld Ruby elite members, AirPass members, premium economy, Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard cardmembers, travelers who bought priority boarding and eligible corporate travelers
• Group 5: Main Cabin Extra (excluding basic economy), eligible AAdvantage credit card members and AAdvantage members who have earned 15,000 Loyalty Points
• Group 6: AAdvantage members
• Group 7: Non-AAdvantage members with a Group 7 boarding pass in economy class
• Group 8: Non-AAdvantage members with a Group 8 boarding pass in economy class
• Group 9: Basic economy travelers