Have you ever stood in a plane aisle for longer than you think you should have while someone ahead of you stuffs the overhead bin, steals all the pillows, sheds four layers of clothing or eats their Kung Pao chicken? Well, science has recently come to the world of boarding. In an effort to reduce the time their planes spend on the ground, airlines are investing in research to determine the quickest boarding procedures. A recent article in Wired Magazine has all the details, and nifty flash animations too!

For cash-strapped airlines, improving the boarding process has become more than a customer service issue. "An airplane only generates revenue when it is in the air," explains David Swierenga, a former Air Transport Association of America economist and president of aviation consulting company AeroEcon. Swierenga says that by speeding "turnaround," an industry term for the amount of time an aircraft spends on the ground between flights, airlines can keep their planes in the air longer.