Is this acceptable? ( final call with aircraft 1 hour from airport )

Good post, never had to wait on an airbridge that long but have had experiences of air stewards at the gate telling everyone "we're about to start Boarding" and then you're standing there for a half hour while nobody moves.

Also had fun at Stansted recently when the Ryanair app told me what departure gate I was supposed to be going to. A solid hour before the departure board confirmed it. In the meantime I'm stuck in limbo not wanting to go to the gate I was told in the app in case it changed. Isn't technology wonderful.

An air bridge? You must have had the ultra luxury service :-)

I have to say I dislike flights that are declared "boarding" before the aircraft arrives, but the only thing that will stop that carry on is legislation.

"Boarding" before the aircraft arrives makes sense for the airline as it speeds up the turn around and aircraft don't make money on the ground, so there's less delays for the airline if all the passengers are ready to board as soon as the plane reaches it's stand and more flights per day per gate for the airport. But they should only start boarding when the aircraft is on final approach.

Is there an app or tracker you can use to see what plane you are supposed to be on and where it’s current location?

I’ve been in this situation multiple times.

tired after a busy holiday, lots of walking, , few drinks the night before to find yourself corralled into a stairwell without air conditioning, for the guts of 30 minutes with no aircraft even on stand and them announcing last call.

Some airports take this piss with this, others do what I would do, get people down to the gate and ready to commence boarding.

Unfortunately, as has been mentioned, there are far too many idiots who are not there on time and ready to go. They'll be up in the bar, swanning around in the duty free, or in general wandering mode. Putting up boarding seems to get through to that cohort and they get moving and down to the gate.

Those of us who travel every month have a good gist of what stage the boarding is at. Most can check FR24 and see how the previous flight is doing, has it made it to the gate etc. and don't bother joining the queue until boarding has actually commenced to the aircraft.

I don’t think most people would take the risk. Ryanair has managed to create a ‘first come, first serve’ environment at boarding even though everyone already has a seat. People still want to be front of the queue, whether it’s for guaranteed overhead bin space, a quicker experience finding their seat or just peace of mind. Very few passengers would ignore ‘boarding’ calls for fear of missing out, even if it means inevitably feeling stupid when they end up standing in a stairwell for 20+ minutes.

Nice I didn’t know that! I more use it when the gate tells me my flight is delayed to check where the incoming flight is

From a ground handling perspective, this is another reason why airlines do it (and not saying I agree or that its right).

If the boarding staff can get people scanned at the boarding gate then they know who are physically present, and more importantly, who isnt. This allows them to check if those who arent present have bags checked in, and if they do they can give the details to the ground handling team to locate the bags and keep them to 1 side, before they even start loading the bags.

Otherwise 99% people might be on board the aircraft, the 1% that isnt on board might have a bag or 2, and they might be the first bags loaded onto the aircraft, which means unloading all again to locate and unload those 1 or 2 bags. Delay for everyone.

Also gives the boarding staff time to sort out any issues that passengers might have, which sometimes only presents itself when the boarding pass is scanned at the gate.

Luton is terrible for this, you get herded like cattle into a corral at the bottom of stairs. They scan your boarding card to trap you in there, there are only a couple of seats, and no queue is possible, just a crush. I travel with just a small backpack for the sole reason of avoiding this kind of thing. I just sit somewhere with a view of the line and board last.

If its before the boarding gate then its on the passengers, they can see boarding hasnt started yet.

In Dublin especially I know Ryanair put final call to get passengers from the bars and shops to the gate, because it is such a long walk. If they put regular boarding first when they actually start boarding, you would get people waiting until final call is shown before moving to the gate, and then get to the gate too late and blame the airline. There is method to their madness, even if it means people missing 30 minutes of further eating/drinking/shopping.

Is that really worth missing a flight over?

The OP mentioned waiting on an airbridge, which is after the boarding gate, which is what I replied to.

My annual pint count generally remains within single figures, but I'm going to throw out a hard disagree here.

I have no problem whatsoever with someone having a drink to kick off their holiday. As long as what they do doesn't impact me, why would I care?