People in planes and airports are like sheep.
They also do things that make absolutely no sense to me whatsoever.
Typical scenario goes like this ..
Plane lands in airport and taxis to wherever it’s going to stop. It stops. The doors do not open immediately, as they have to wait for the groundcrew to their thing. Even if they’re using their own steps there’s usually a delay of a couple of minutes between the plane stopping and the door opening.
This is not novel.
This is normal.
So what happens with the passengers?
This is the bit I don’t get.
Bearing in mind that the doors are CLOSED.
They all stand up and start getting themselves tangled up trying to get off the plane (which still has closed doors).
Why is that?
Or what about when they’re in departures?
Even if the gate is CLOSED, they’ll all stand in a line waiting to get on the plane – even though:
- the gate isn’t open
- the plane isn’t going to go anywhere until they’ve got on board
Are they all sheep or is it just me?
Personally I prefer waiting in my seat in the plane until the people who are “in a hurry” have got out of the way. I’ll see them when they get stuck in customs anyway …
It’s because people are conditioned from flying Ryanair to queue up for the seats they want and to get the hell away from the plane as quickly possible as soon as it lands. If you remain in your seat until the doors open they’ll run down with the trolley to hawk smokeless ciggies at you.
As an experienced traveller, I understand the queuing up at the gate before it opens. I do it myself sometimes. Why? Because on some flights (espec from LHR) everyone brings on carry on bags. If you board the plane early, you get to put your bag in the locker directly above your head. If you board late and are sitting in the first 10 rows, you end up either having to check your bag into the hold or putting it in a locker at the back. Both outcomes negate the point of booking a seat at the front in order to get off the plane as quickly as possible.
I queue .. I get up as fast as possible … I travel light 1 bag no customs / check in .. why do I do it
1: Don’t care too much if I have to stand in a queue .. its not like I’m going anywhere else and my battery may have died at that stage …
2: I dump my bag as close to the front as possible (and hope that we’re getting out that door)
3: The standing in the airplane thing is annoying though
(Last time at Madrid airport it felt like we were playing Snake in the airport the queue took VERY VERY weird turns all throughout the place very like snake)
Oh God, I hear you on this one Michele.
I am ALWAYS last onto the plane. Always. Why get jammed in there for longer than you need to be?
The people standing up bit… that really grinds my gears. Because I’m always last on, I’m usually in an aisle seat. What tips me over the edge is when everyone stands up to get “tangled up” and the person on the inside/window seat snarls at me to move so they can “get their bag”. Nobody is moving, you don’t have room to get your bag and things will move a lot smoother if you just wait. You can even stick on your iPod at this stage.