Back-to-front boarding Most airlines still use the back-to-front boarding method. Premium flyers, parents and guardians with small children and those in need of assistance on first, then passengers seated at the rear of the cabin, followed by those in the middle and finally passengers allocated front row seats. Logic says that's the way to go. In practice, when passengers seated at the rear are called for boarding, others have typically jumped the queue and now occupy seats at the front of the cabin. Some of those passengers will be blocking the aisle as they struggle to hoist carry-ons into the overhead bins, creating choke points for those headed rearwards.