As families prepare for air travel this coming Memorial Day weekend, United Airlines wo n't be offering early boarding to families in coach with small children. Joining a handful of other carriers, United made the policy shift in late April with little fanfare. Previously, families with small children flying coach were allowed on aircraft before general boarding, a convenience for moms and dads trying to herd their kids across the friendly skies. We figured it would be better to simplify that process and reduce the number of boarding groups, said United spokesman Charles Hobart. The airline does allow passengers with children traveling in first class or business class to board early. I have to wonder if it will end up slowing things down because of the extra time it takes for families to board, said Brett Snyder of the blog crankyflier.com. Kate Hanni of flyersrights.org calls the move very anti-family. There are very few things a parent can count on when it comes to air travel these days, but one of those things was always the ability to board first to get your children settled in and all of their needs met before the throngs of people board the plane, said Hanni in an e-mail to CNN. I hope United changes their mind. If families do need additional assistance, our gate agent will work to accommodate them, Hobart said. That message has been communicated. We 're not