United Airlines has changed its boarding procedures in a bid to discourage flyers from crowding the gate area and make the experience stress-free.

It sounds counterintuitive, but to improve the boarding process, United announced plans to reduce the number of boarding lanes. Their reasoning? Many airport gate areas have been remodeled with more comfortable seating along with food and drinks areas.

Instead of standing around waiting for boarding the start, flyers are encouraged to dine, shop or work before their flight.

Updates to the United app also include push notifications once flights start boarding, so that flyers know when to make their way to the gate.

Flyers will board according to group assignments blue and green, with priority flyers corralled into the blue lane.

The new boarding process is the result of testing across hundreds of fights and flights across the United States. JB

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