How many times have you watched the waiting-to-board horde and seen them disobey every request from the gate agent like not blocking the boarding area, waiting until their seat number is called, etc.?
JetBlue officials must have seen it too many times, because they’ve released a clever 1.5 minute video about flight etiquette that has been gaining considerable traction on social media this week.
Watch and enjoy and then tell us what you think in the comments below.
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What about the disembarking routine? Since I am based in Atlanta when I arrive I am usually home and not racing to a connecting gate. Sometimes I just wait for most everyone to clear the aisle (or at least until there is enough of a gap between my seat and the back of the plane) before I get up and retrieve my carryon. My father (a very INfrequent traveler) used to do that. Less chance of getting hit by all the folks who jump up as soon as the seat belt sign is off..
In 1993, I was on a flight from Beijing to San Francisco on Air China (or was it China Air). The B747 was parked on the tarmac. When the boarding announcement was made and the door to the tarmac opened, it was like a starting gun had been fired. Four hundred plus people bolted out of the starting blocks, even though everyone had a seat assignment. It was quite comical to watch what looked like a mass-start Olympic 100m race. I took my time and enjoyed the absurdity of the scene.
2/3 of the time the gate announcements are so intelligible, plus hard to hear over the din of the airport, that’s it’s dang near impossible to hear what is being said even if you wanted to follow the requests.
As well, charging for carry on has made the mad panic to board twice as bad as everyone is worried they won’t get a spot.
So much of this is the airlines’ own fault. If they weren’t so greedy about luggage, people would behave differently.
When I first saw Southwest’s newest boarding process (with the boarding columns) I thought it was laugh-out-loud geeky, but I must admit it’s the most efficient boarding process I know.
Last week I boarded a 747 and it was wall-to-wall chaos. They should have used cattle pens to control the crowds.