{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,1]],"date-time":"2026-05-01T04:41:52Z","timestamp":1777610512098,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"20","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,14]],"date-time":"2023-10-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1697241600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Mathematics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>To ensure the safety of passengers concerning virus propagation, such as COVID-19, and keep the turnaround time at low levels, airlines should seek efficient aircraft boarding strategies in terms of both physical distancing and boarding times. This study seeks to analyze the impact of different boarding strategies in the context of the International Air Transport Association\u2019s recommendations during the pandemic to reduce interference and physical contact between passengers in airplanes. Boarding strategies such as back-to-front, outside-in, reverse pyramid, blocks, Steffen, and modified optimal have been tested in this context. This study extends the previous literature using discrete event simulation to evaluate the impact of the occupation of the middle seat by family members only. This study also analyses the impact of having passengers carrying hand luggage and priority passengers on the performance of these strategies concerning boarding times. In general, the simulation results revealed a 15% improvement in boarding times when the reverse pyramid strategy is used compared to a random strategy, which essentially results from a reduction in the boarding interferences between passengers. The results also show that Steffen\u2019s strategy is the best performing, while the blocks strategy results in the worst performance. This study has practical implications for airline companies concerning both operation efficiency and passenger safety.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/math11204288","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,14]],"date-time":"2023-10-14T14:59:59Z","timestamp":1697295599000},"page":"4288","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["A Simulation Study of Aircraft Boarding Strategies"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"H\u00e9lio","family":"Moreira","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Engineering, ISEP, Polytechnic of Porto, Rua Dr. Ant\u00f3nio Bernardino de Almeida, 4249-015 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4225-6525","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lu\u00eds P.","family":"Ferreira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Engineering, ISEP, Polytechnic of Porto, Rua Dr. Ant\u00f3nio Bernardino de Almeida, 4249-015 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Associate Laboratory for Energy, Transports and Aerospace (LAETA-INEGI), 4200-465 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4682-1790","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nuno O.","family":"Fernandes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Industrial Engineering, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Castelo Branco, Av. do Empres\u00e1rio, 6000-767 Castelo Branco, Portugal"},{"name":"ALGORITMI Research Centre, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8570-4362","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francisco J. G.","family":"Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Engineering, ISEP, Polytechnic of Porto, Rua Dr. Ant\u00f3nio Bernardino de Almeida, 4249-015 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Associate Laboratory for Energy, Transports and Aerospace (LAETA-INEGI), 4200-465 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4401-7747","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ana L.","family":"Ramos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Competitiveness and Public Policies (GOVCOPP), Industrial Engineering and Tourism (DEGEIT), University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8420-0875","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paulo","family":"\u00c1vila","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Engineering, ISEP, Polytechnic of Porto, Rua Dr. Ant\u00f3nio Bernardino de Almeida, 4249-015 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"INESC TEC\u2014Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores, Tecnologia e Ci\u00eancia, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Regnier, E., Sanchez, S.M., and Sanchez, P.J. 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