There is a clever and interesting reason you always board airplanes from the left – as it’s the one thing that will never change, no matter how many flights you tend to go on
The summer holiday season is upon us, and while we jet off into the summer sun, there is always something that will never change when getting on a plane, but you may have never noticed it.
While boarding a plane can be exciting – or nerve-wracking for some – you may have never given it a thought, but there is a reason you always step onto the plane from the left.
It’s clear planes have advanced over the years, but how we get on them has never changed, and there’s an interesting reason why, as explained by Michael Oakley, managing editor of The Aviation Historian.
While commercial planes were initially designed with the passenger doors on the left due to tradition, it’s now become a matter of efficiency. Michael explained to Afar: “Much of aviation terminology had its origins in maritime lore (rudder, cockpit, cabin, bulkhead, knots, etc), and similarly, the aeronautical ways of doing things owe a lot to sailing.
“Just as boats and ships have a port side – the side of the vessel conventionally adjacent to the dock when in port – aircraft are the same. Sensibly, people decided to continue to board on the port (or left) side.”
Boats were designed this way due to the steering oar being placed on the right side (starboard) of the ship – so it became the norm for passengers and cargo to get loaded onto the opposite side. This then got passed through to aircraft, until United Airlines in the 1930s and 40s placed their doors on the right. However as more and more people used planes for travel, it made it easier, and a lot more efficient to have everyone boarding different planes on the same side and using the same terminals.
“Since the pilot sits on the left, airports began to be built with gates on the left so the pilot could better judge distances as they taxied to the gate,’ said Matthew Burchette, senior curator at the Museum of Flight in Tukwila, Washington, according to The Metro. He added: “As soon as more complex airports were developed, with passengers using Jetways as a means of walking directly aboard from the terminal, ground operations were a lot easier if every aircraft did the same thing in the same direction.”
This also means all of the airport ground staff can work a lot easier, and can all stay on the right-hand side and away from passengers, and passengers can stay away from any machinery.
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