AVIATION: Jet-Age Boarding

With the thought that climbing an old-fashioned ramp to board a jet plane is like using a ladder to mount a race horse, American Airlines last week introduced the first true jet-age boarding system. At a cost of more than $100,000, it put into operation at San Francisco’s International Airport a system of “jetwalks.”

The system consists of two soundproof and weatherproof corridors, red-carpeted and glass-enclosed, which extend from the terminal at plane-door level on a high, fixed base. First-class passengers enter a short jetwalk that leads to the plane’s front door via a short gondola that slides to the door on a monorail. Other passengers walk a longer distance along a jet-walk that runs parallel to the plane, enter the rear door through a telescoping corridor that can be moved out to the door on wheels. Both devices are operated electrically from a console that can raise, lower or telescope the ramp to suit the plane.

The new system enables American to load or unload a 112-passenger Boeing 707, rain or shine, in three to five minutes. The line intends to install the jet boarding system in other U.S. cities before year’s end.