Window, middle, then aisle? Passengers have thoughts on United’s new boarding process

United Airlines' new process of boarding window seat customers first begins on Thursday, Oct. 26, and passengers have thoughts on the system that aims to speed up the time it takes to take off.

Just weeks away from the start of the busy holiday travel season, United is rolling out their new approach in economy called WILMA, the process of boarding window, middle and then aisle seats, which is said to help shorten the time of departure.

"By doing this, we’re saving two minutes," Linda Jojo, United's chief customer service officer, said on TODAY. "So if we can get two minutes back on this flight, and two minutes back on the next flight, we’re gonna help especially those customers traveling later in the day to be closer on time."

Jojo said the two minutes are also helpful in getting the flight out on time, considering that most planes have about 45 minutes from the moment the aircraft arrives until it has to start heading for the runway.

Pre-boarding, priority and passengers in business class will still board first, and entire families can board together, according to United.

Though the official rollout of the system begins on Thursday, United said it first began testing the process six years ago at five airports.

The company has also said it is retrofitting its fleet to make the overhead bins bigger so that every passenger should be able to store one carry-on in the overhead bins.

When the process was announced last week, passengers on social media immediately began sharing their opinions.

"Well, not flying United," one TikTok commenter wrote. "I’m an aisle girlie and now I’m always going to lose out on overhead space."

"Boarding back to front seems more intuitive," another TikTok user commented.

"I mean it sounds good but the overhead storage is probably the problem," another user said.

Other users were interested in the idea of boarding window seats first.

"I’ve always wondered why they wouldn’t do window first. makes sense. airlines need to stop charging for checked bags. problem solved," a TikToker commented.

"I love it," another user wrote. "Typically if an airline is making you check your carry on at the gate they check it for free anyway."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com