If you are the airline it seems to work out since you are actually turning this into a money making opportunity?
The real issue is if the slow boarding is costing the airline more than the money than they earn from charging from upgrades. Also consider that the people paying for expensive seats might be sad if they don't get to board early which again might affect airline revenue.
I think airlines is pretty happy with the current situation, and that the passenger boarding speed is not costing them money so this is all good. This is just an (somewhat educated?) guess.
Yeah, as long as you are "overlapping" boarding and servicing, I think the servicing of the aircraft takes longer than the boarding/unboarding, so it does not actually delay the rate at which the aircraft can be turned around. The action of boarding the aircraft takes 10 minutes longer, but it's 10 minutes that you were going to be sitting on the ground anyway while the plane is fuelled and loaded up with meals/etc.
The thing is, people are not paying extra just to board early, they're mostly paying for the bigger seat, more space, more personal service. The "priority boarding" is just icing on the cake, a "cable channels package" tactic thrown in to make the customer feel like they're not getting ripped off as much. Assuming that boarding is not in the critical path, airlines could adopt a faster boarding system and get the plane turned around faster without turning down that extra revenue.
If you are in first class you can do whatever you want and the airline will politely thank you. At least this is my experience when flying business or first class.
In general, the airline lets you board at your time or later
>Also consider that the people paying for expensive seats might be sad if they don't get to board early which again might affect airline revenue.
Consider they would be pissed if overhead bin space isn't available for them so they have to jet way check their carry-on luggage and then wait when they arrive or find overhead space further back the airplane which just leads to a cluster mess trying to deplane upon arrival.
The real issue is if the slow boarding is costing the airline more than the money than they earn from charging from upgrades. Also consider that the people paying for expensive seats might be sad if they don't get to board early which again might affect airline revenue.
I think airlines is pretty happy with the current situation, and that the passenger boarding speed is not costing them money so this is all good. This is just an (somewhat educated?) guess.