By James Pilcher
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The days of the familiar refrain "Now boarding rows 21 through 33" soon will be gone at Delta Air Lines.

The Atlanta-based carrier Thursday said it will abandon the traditional boarding method Wednesday in favor of a "zone-based" strategy designed to get passengers on more quickly and improve airplane efficiency.

"We're looking at reducing loading time on a fully loaded flight by up to 10 minutes, which is good for the customer but also allows us better utilization of the aircraft," said Rob Maruster, Delta's director of airport strategy planning and development.

Passengers will still have assigned seating, unlike other airlines, such as Southwest. But now, every ticket will also include a number for the seating zone between 1 and 9 on every flight and plane in the Delta mainline system, which operates its second-largest hub locally at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.

Zones 1-3 are for business/first class fliers and elite SkyMiles members, and those will board first. The rest of the plane will be divided geographically.

For example, the rear left quadrant of the plane may board first, and then the rear right quadrant and so on at specified intervals. In addition, bulkhead passengers will board early to allow them to stow carry-ons.

The new method is expected to reduce lines in jetways and congestion in the aisles.

"It may not be intuitive for the passenger at first, but it is actually a lot easier once they get used to it," said Maruster, who said a similar method used on Delta's low-cost Song unit showed strong results.

The changes do not apply to Delta Connection flights on Comair or other regional carriers, or to the Delta Shuttle.

E-mail jpilcher@enquirer.com