You know what I think is weird about all this discussion?
Boarding and deplaning really don’t take that long, most of the time.
Think 15 or 20 minutes max.
It’s one of those things where it feels incredibly long and arduous. It feels interminable. But that has something (IMO) more to do with the psychological experience of flying.
The actual time cost is fairly small, especially compared to so many other wastes of your time when flying (getting to the airport on crowded roads, requirements to arrive early, arriving early because of fear of security taking a long time, getting through security, requirements to get to the gate early, sitting in the plane at the gate, sitting on the plane waiting to take off, sitting on the plane on the other end, possibly being on a shuttle bus connecting plane to gate, waiting for luggage, waiting for cab or shuttle or rental car ...) not to mention the time of the actual flight.
I think it's just that it's unpleasant time in comparison to all those other things, so it's more ripe for optimization. When I fly, I read or relax or run errands on the train or Uber, breeze through checkin due to not checking luggage, stroll through security and customs due to Global Entry, relax at the gate and do whatever I'd like, and am generally well-prepared to get some reading done or relax on the plane. The only parts of the process where I can't focus (or get lost in my thoughts) are checkin and security, which are already pretty tightly optimized.
By contrast, boarding and deplaning is a particularly uncomfortable form of hurry-up-and-wait, where your mind isn't your own because you need to keep one eye/ear on your surroundings, and you're standing with your luggage and shuffling forward at random intervals.
It's no surprise that people don't consider time spent boarding/deplaning the same as time (eg) at the gate, and that obvious inefficiencies are particularly rankling.
I tried to paint a vivid picture of the differences, but the truth is I don't personally mind boarding/deplaning too much, for some reason. I just understand where the focus comes from.
The reason this time is given so much attention isn't for the impression of the passengers, it's to minimize turnaround time to keep the aircraft making money.
If you only look at the material side of what people are paying for: boarding a few minutes faster, deplaning a few minutes faster, comfier seats and better food, etc, then I completely agree that it doesn't make sense to pay an extra $1000 or so for a plane ticket. Here's what I think people do pay ridiculous amounts of money for: status, and ensuring they do not have to interact with normals. Air travel used to be a luxury activity in itself, but prices today mean that you are basically stepping onto a dirty sky bus (more so for some airlines than others). This is of course a generalization, but rich people do not take buses.
(This doesn't really apply to business travelers, as their companies need to pay for these upgrades to make the job travel less unattractive)
Boarding and deplaning really don’t take that long, most of the time.
Think 15 or 20 minutes max.
It’s one of those things where it feels incredibly long and arduous. It feels interminable. But that has something (IMO) more to do with the psychological experience of flying.
The actual time cost is fairly small, especially compared to so many other wastes of your time when flying (getting to the airport on crowded roads, requirements to arrive early, arriving early because of fear of security taking a long time, getting through security, requirements to get to the gate early, sitting in the plane at the gate, sitting on the plane waiting to take off, sitting on the plane on the other end, possibly being on a shuttle bus connecting plane to gate, waiting for luggage, waiting for cab or shuttle or rental car ...) not to mention the time of the actual flight.