There are a lot of hotly contested airplane etiquette topics out there, ranging from who controls the window shades, to whether reclining your seat is a right or privilege, to when it’s appropriate to swap seats with others, to standing up as soon as the plane arrives at the gate. I have strong opinions on most of these topics, though here’s one where I never know what to do.
This is minor in the grand scheme of things, but I’m still curious how others handle this situation.
In this post:
“Please stay seated to allow those with connections…”
Have you ever been on a flight that’s running behind schedule, and either shortly before landing or just after landing, the flight attendant announces something along the lines of:
“I’m going to ask you for a favor. We have some passengers making tight connections, and we would really appreciate if you could stay seated after the seatbelt sign goes off to allow these people to deplane first. We know you’d appreciate that same courtesy if you were in their shoes.”
Sometimes they’ll ask the passengers making tight connections to ring their call buttons so they can be identified, sometimes they’ll give a specific time range for what they consider to be a tight connection, and sometimes they’ll just let people decide for themselves what constitutes a short connection.
On the surface this is a nice and logical gesture. If me sitting on the plane for a little extra time means someone will make it home to see their family, or make it on a well deserved vacation, I’m all for it. But I’m becoming jaded when it comes to this, and I’m curious how others feel.
The problem is that most people don’t actually listen
The biggest problem with these announcements is that almost no one listens. So in those situations where I stay seated, I find that I’m basically the last person off the plane.
I had a flight once where we were over 40 minutes late, and one flight attendant recommended to the other flight attendant that they make such an announcement. Her response was “I’ve been doing it for 20 years, and I’ve never seen anyone listen,” yet she still made the announcement.
The fact that virtually no one listens is only one of the things that has made me jaded about this over the years. The other problems include that:
- People can’t be trusted to self-identify — often the people thinking their connections are really short actually don’t have short connections at all (they just don’t travel often, misread the boarding time as the departure time, etc.), or they already missed their connections, so have no chance of getting on that flight
- People book stupid connections, and airlines are at fault for creating a system that encourages this — airlines rely so heavily on banked hubs and unrealistic minimum connection times; people probably shouldn’t have booked a 45-minute connection in Dallas to begin with, but it’s not really their fault when the airline displays those convenient-looking options so prominently
- There’s also a herd mentality element to this, so once some people stop listening, everyone seems to stop listening
So, how do I handle these deplaning requests?
How do I handle these situations? I try to be courteous, which is to say that if the crew specifically identifies a few people, or if some people push forward, I’ll of course let them off first. But I’m done being among the only people who listens.
It makes me feel bad to do that, but I also feel like there’s no point. Personally I think airlines need to do a better job managing these situations, rather than relying on passengers to step in and help. In other words, we’re supposed to do our part to help people make their connections, while gate agents close the door 10 minutes early on those people because those are the metrics they’re rewarded on.
I’m happy to see that airlines like United are increasingly holding connections for late arriving passengers, using a straightforward and transparent system that factors in a variety of considerations.
Bottom line
When flights are running late, it’s common for flight attendants to request that most passengers stay seated, so that those with tight connections can maximize their odds of not misconnecting. While this is well intentioned, the issue is that a vast majority of people don’t listen. So if you do listen, you basically end up being the last person off the plane, even if you’re seated toward the front.
Where do you stand on this — when flight attendants ask people to stay seated, do you listen? Do you appreciate when flight attendants do this?
I have no idea how many times I’ve waited for these people to disembark, only not to appear. After some time I will disembark, as I’m not waiting for Godot. There might be good reasons, perhaps a middle seat towards the back, a family with small kids, some tiktoker busy creating content or maybe they didn’t hear, understand or thought it hopeless.
I think that many (most) people are willing to wait, but unless the pax who have tight connections are identified, there's no way to know when they're all off. Great work by the FAs who make that clear! We need more of that. I work very hard not to book tight connections, but I'm fine with waiting for those who do.
I was on a flight into Anchorage that had been delayed. The young woman next to me was getting nervous and crying. She said her husband was going to deploy out of Fairbanks and she was on her way to see him before he went.
I told the flight attendant. Alaska held the ANC to Farirbanks flight then when we landed asked everyone to stay seated untilo she deplaned and made her connection to...
I was on a flight into Anchorage that had been delayed. The young woman next to me was getting nervous and crying. She said her husband was going to deploy out of Fairbanks and she was on her way to see him before he went.
I told the flight attendant. Alaska held the ANC to Farirbanks flight then when we landed asked everyone to stay seated untilo she deplaned and made her connection to see her husband. We all did and as she left the plane it erupted in applause! We deplaned with a warm glow into a cold winter night.
The real question is why don’t we board and deboard using both doors?? I’ve seen the future, it’s the past, dual boarding and deplaning.
Shouts out to frontier for revisiting. I hope they buy spirit and improve their logistics, will become a real player then.
I was on LAX-PHL on AA last week. We had a plane swap and left about 90 minutes late. The FA made an announcement asking those with tight connections to raise their hands, then asked everyone to wait until they deplaned. Other than a couple FC passengers who didn't wait, the rest of us stayed seated (we were in the bulkhead, so I could see them get off).
I'd say about two dozen people deplaned...
I was on LAX-PHL on AA last week. We had a plane swap and left about 90 minutes late. The FA made an announcement asking those with tight connections to raise their hands, then asked everyone to wait until they deplaned. Other than a couple FC passengers who didn't wait, the rest of us stayed seated (we were in the bulkhead, so I could see them get off).
I'd say about two dozen people deplaned and it took less than five minutes. Most looked grateful, relieved, and still somewhat harried. I was happy to wait.
Yesterday, wife and I got back from quick trip to London. We were staying at hotel next to Paddington.
Our flight was to board at 5:30am. We took first Heathrow Express at 4:38. Got off train at 4:58. (term 2/3). It took 25 min walk to baggage drop-off. Then to our LH gate it took 20 minutes. Just made the gate before it closed.
Never again will I fly through Heathrow.
you took a train that arrived at the airport 30 minutes before boarding and that's the airport's fault?
I want to point out that this seems like a US thing. I have never heard such an announcement on a foreign carrier. Within Europe there can be some very tight connections.
I totally agree on minimum connection times. LHR is 1 hour to 1:15 for international connections within the same terminal. This is not going to work, never. And most websites, including BA's own one, only lists the shortest connection and not the more realisitic ones. For those you have to call or book via a travel agency.
I can help. Window shades are controlled by the person in the window seat. Both armrests belong to the middle pax. You can ask me to swap if your are honest about the swap and accept my "no" (if it happens) with a "thank you." You respect requests to allow a quick exit for tight connections. You have an absolute right to recline except during meals. These should be posted, and anyone who doesn't agree should be on a no-fly list (ok, not really the latter).
Unlike some of the readers, I only fly a few times a year. So only one time in my experience has the purser asked passengers who weren’t making tight connection to let the others deplane. We were one of the passengers with a tight connection and we just made it! We really appreciated the consideration shown to us by other passengers.
Many times I've been on planes where the crew states "we have 8 people who have extremely tight connections so please let them pass". 35+ people later flowing from the back of the plane. Great idea for crew to identify and help the priority passengers off the plane.
If this really mattered to the airline, They would announce it at least 10 mins before landing, as a directive, not as a favour and in this first announcement, advise of a specific boarding time that the airport has decided is tight but achievable and they would request only those affected customers to push their button so the flight crew can count the number of customers to be accommodated for tight connections and check whether...
If this really mattered to the airline, They would announce it at least 10 mins before landing, as a directive, not as a favour and in this first announcement, advise of a specific boarding time that the airport has decided is tight but achievable and they would request only those affected customers to push their button so the flight crew can count the number of customers to be accommodated for tight connections and check whether this is a viable number to accommodate. They would announce it again as the aircraft is approaching the airbridge, and specifically direct that only the xx customers are eit the aircraft before any others.
New additional tasks for American flight attendants in the final 10 minutes of flight? Including math and a new "rule" to "enforce"?
Good luck with that.
I agree that if more effort is put into the situation by the flight attendants, people seem to cooperate much better because it seems to become more personal. Otherwise it's every man for himself, which has mostly been my experience, and I am left being about the only one who waited. I don't think it has to be a last minute thing that's not feasible in the attendants' hectic schedule during the last 10 minutes,...
I agree that if more effort is put into the situation by the flight attendants, people seem to cooperate much better because it seems to become more personal. Otherwise it's every man for himself, which has mostly been my experience, and I am left being about the only one who waited. I don't think it has to be a last minute thing that's not feasible in the attendants' hectic schedule during the last 10 minutes, though. If details are announced at a time that is easier for the flight crew, then a quick reminder might be all that's necessary.
I do wonder if the software accounts for where you are seated on the plane when deciding whether to hold a connection.
All the passengers are going to the same place. I personally don't rush off and have never understood why, we all stand on the same curb after waiting for our Ubers.
All passengers are not going to the same place.
May your next destination offer remedial reading comprehension.
Ever hear of tight. connections, or you one of those special people who don't care about anyone but themselves.
I was on a Dunn Air Lines, er I mean Dumbass Airlines, errr ummmm I mean Tim Dunn's Delta Airlines... wait no I mean Tim's Airlines dba Tom Deuce Airways... WAIT! I recall now... TIM DUNN AIR LINES, flight that was delayed by many, many hours. DOZENS of hours. Absurd and Stupid. Finally we land at our destination airport and then Tim stands up and goes racing down the aisle hollering about how he is...
I was on a Dunn Air Lines, er I mean Dumbass Airlines, errr ummmm I mean Tim Dunn's Delta Airlines... wait no I mean Tim's Airlines dba Tom Deuce Airways... WAIT! I recall now... TIM DUNN AIR LINES, flight that was delayed by many, many hours. DOZENS of hours. Absurd and Stupid. Finally we land at our destination airport and then Tim stands up and goes racing down the aisle hollering about how he is late for his meeting to the Delta Fan Club and bowls over none other than ME (I was in a row ahead nad should have been alloeed to deplane before him)! I angrly holler at him to let me go first after i had stood up collected myself and dusted myself off (very dirty floor on the airplane) and he accused me of being an AA insider and continued away ! So nasty!
I always sit at the back of the aircraft (statistically 65% safer than the front and 40% safer than the mid section). Yet I am always amongst the first 20% off, including on a Boeing 747-8i, which is of course, the world's longest commercial Passenger aircraft. Even before arrival of the aircraft to the gate, I have all items collected from my seatback pocket and placed into my jacket or pant pocket (this is flight...
I always sit at the back of the aircraft (statistically 65% safer than the front and 40% safer than the mid section). Yet I am always amongst the first 20% off, including on a Boeing 747-8i, which is of course, the world's longest commercial Passenger aircraft. Even before arrival of the aircraft to the gate, I have all items collected from my seatback pocket and placed into my jacket or pant pocket (this is flight safety critical as well - ensuring all passports, wallets and personal effects are on your personal during takeoff and landing- over 99% of accidents happen during these phases of flight). As soon as we arrive to the gate and have come to a complete stop, I immediately stand up, pull my suitcase from the overhead bin and walk rapidly towards the front of the aircraft. In fact, once about 10 years ago on a Lufthansa A340-600, I was the first passenger to make it to the boarding door with this approach. I appear to others as a highly-compontent and well-seasoned traveller. And This is true - i've logged 1000s of intercontinental flights and hold premier status through various leading airlines as well as Star Alliance.
The story I am trying to tell here is that if you have any respect for your own time, you will follow my methods otherwise enjoy standing a line and being last to get to customs and stand in yet another line. I also have in the past to teach naysayers toward my methods a lesson by hiring all of the cabs at the airport and having had them all drive off. This is why it is so important to be efficient. Not only in the regard of transiting through an airport, but life in general - you will get so much further in life by being an ambassador of, and preaching, efficiency.
I'm sure some idiot and/or moron will reply here and say how its so terrible and go on a big, huge rant filled with stupid crap that exists only in their own mind, but I really don't care if they do because I know how to travel and what to do to minimize my time standing around lining up!
Cool story, Bro.
On many flights, I wait until the bell rings, I then stand up, open the bin, get my bag and walk. All in a smooth move, not hurried. On my last flight, I did that and was able to walk 5 rows forward. My walking pace was probably 1 step per second. If I frantically grabbed by bag and ran, I would have probably advanced 12 rows.
Under ordinary circumstances, you should not walk forward until the row ahead of you had the chance to get up.
complete asshat move.
I've seen flight attendants get up and escort people off around those standing that had connections they were trying to make. On one hand booking a 45 minute connection in a large multi terminal/concourse airport is not particularly smart but often it's because of a late arriving flight.
It has been a long time since I have heard the onboard request to let tight connecting pax disembark first but I have seen the other pax be kind and allow the others to leave first. I had an amazing experience with Delta approaching MSP for a very tight connection and my First Class F/A approached me and told me that they had a gold cart waiting for me when we arrived. I am a...
It has been a long time since I have heard the onboard request to let tight connecting pax disembark first but I have seen the other pax be kind and allow the others to leave first. I had an amazing experience with Delta approaching MSP for a very tight connection and my First Class F/A approached me and told me that they had a gold cart waiting for me when we arrived. I am a no-body really. There were 2 of us connecting to the same flight ( I guess the other person was somebody LOL) but WOW !
I was on a United flight into Denver that was delayed about 30 minutes a few months ago. Before landing, flight attendants listed the ~15 or so connections that counted as short (under 30 minutes, I think). They listed flights that counted and then called out customers by seat numbers booked on those connections to raise their hands. They then walked down the aisle and asked everyone without their hand up to wait for those...
I was on a United flight into Denver that was delayed about 30 minutes a few months ago. Before landing, flight attendants listed the ~15 or so connections that counted as short (under 30 minutes, I think). They listed flights that counted and then called out customers by seat numbers booked on those connections to raise their hands. They then walked down the aisle and asked everyone without their hand up to wait for those specific passengers to deplane first. Everyone complied.
Great work from America's most premium and customer-friendly airline!
Perfect way for the crew to do this
Excellent.
Now they need to train the rest of their FAs to do the same.
I’ve mostly had similar experiences when United FAs make this announcement. Haven’t had the hand raising thing but especially on DEN-SFO flights the FAs try to emphasize that people are connecting to long haul flights and most others comply and wait.
Kindness. It isn’t hard.
Unless I'm having a connection problem or the plane is late and someone is waiting for me, I stay stay seated and am often last one off. Reduces stress.
you are supposed to be a travel professional... do you de train, de boat, de bus ? you mean disembark, deplane is not an English word, oh brother
It’s a word. It’s used all the time, at least in the US, and everyone knows what it means. Granted, it hasn’t been around since Chaucer, but planes have only existed for a little more than 100 years. Chaucer never had a chance to deplane.
Neither is chaise lounge. Neither is medication. But what ya gonna do.
The language of the 21st Century is bad English
People need to learn that anything under an hour connection time could be a disaster. I am not going to circumvent what should be a row by row deplaning because someone else was too immature to think about how the short connection and a seat at the back would play out.
Hey brain trust! Ever heard of flight delays outside of anyone's control? Oh, now are you going to respond that you have never, ever had a flight delay?
You're only sacrificing two minutes of your life to let people by. Stop being so hyper-defensive. Chill out and let a few people walk past you - in the bigger picture of life those two minutes are minuscule.
Stay in your seat until it is your turn. If you have flown in Hawaii inter-island you will see that is how the locals roll and it works quite well.
So, make it slower? Absent a request to accommodate tight connections, you get up if in the aisle set and retrieve your bag. You give space to the aisle person in the same row. Then, you can exit as soon as those in front are moving forward. Only an inconsiderate jerk stays seated until the last second, delaying those behind as the collect bags.
As a customer and an American, I believe in capitalism and survival of the fittest. When the plane stops, I'm up and ready to be the first one off the plane even if I'm further back. Haven't had anyone say no yet and on occassions where they use the second doors instead of the front doors, I always demand the flight attendant to let us first class passengers go first (what's the point of calling it first otherwise).
Funny
Well, it could be to let people know you are a jerk.
Slightly surprised this hasn't lit up quicker and degenerated into a slugfest of entertainment in comment section over PST lunchtime LAS PHX DEN both seem to have tight connections to west coast airports for people coming from east. To the comment about United waiting a fun fact. As I was coming back from Canada I experienced this on a United flight. They said they were waiting for 20 passengers. I didn't think it was possible...
Slightly surprised this hasn't lit up quicker and degenerated into a slugfest of entertainment in comment section over PST lunchtime LAS PHX DEN both seem to have tight connections to west coast airports for people coming from east. To the comment about United waiting a fun fact. As I was coming back from Canada I experienced this on a United flight. They said they were waiting for 20 passengers. I didn't think it was possible 20 open seats on the plane to begin with... But much to my surprise as I was observing possibly only 2-3 boarded the plane. So that leads me to believe.
A.) they really were trying to wait. However, something continued to go wrong. The time continued to push back and they just decided to throw their hands up and let it go for the rest or
B.) they grossly exaggerated and we're trying to placate those who had a further onward connection they might miss
I can tell you the passenger behind me was not happy and ranted for about 5 minutes about it to flight attendant pulling the dykwia
The lady in the middle seat in my row indicated to the aisle seat person. They had a tight connection upon arrival and asked if they could kindly get up first .
I guess I'll add that when they made the original announcement that they were waiting for. 20ppl They gave a new departure time which I thought was interesting and then they definitely left gate on the dot To that new departure time
Someday there will be things called computers that will let crew know which seats have tight connections and the helpful crew will proactively assist the passengers flagged by the computer during deplaning especially when the flight is late.
I had this happen recently. On late arrival in Singapore, Singapore Airlines escorted me and a couple of other passengers to our far-away connecting gate, assuring us they were waiting for us for the last flight of the night.
Of course, as we approached the new gate, we got to wave at our plane departing the ramp. Unbelievable example how NOT to do it, by the "world's best airline."
We had this service from American, recently. they greeted our JL flight in SEA and escorted us through Immigration, TSA to the train, where I assured the agent we really could take it on our own from there. She was willing to escort us to the gate. We reached the gate just before boarding was complete. I was impressed with American that day.
Yet another etiquette story...
There is no quandary here. Sit your ass down until it is your turn to deplane. There is no room in the isle for everybody and their carry-ons. Zeez!
I don't think ti actually helps. Often, I'm in the aisle seat and someone at the window might have the tight connection. Does it make it any quicker if I get up to let them out and then sit down again? Probably not and doing this over and over again for other rows likely doesn't actually save any time, it creates more congestions and people moving around to let others out.
I generally just ignore them period now as well, barring people immediately around me where I've overheard that they do in fact have a tight connection and our flight is late.
What really annoys me is the number of time people try to push past for a 'tight connection' for an on time or early arrival. That has happened to me on a shockingly high number of flights. We are early, how do you have a tight connection?
@380
Yeah that. My Christmas break flying back from Barbados. We landed 40 mins early and this guy behind me he has to get off coz his flight is boarding. I'm thinking, did he switch flights mid air or something...
I generally just ignore them period now as well, barring people immediately around me where I've overheard that they do in fact have a tight connection and our flight is late.
What really annoys me is the number of time people try to push past for a 'tight connection' for an on time or early arrival. That has happened to me on a shockingly high number of flights. We are early, how do you have a tight connection?
"We are early, how do you have a tight connection?" Because airlines sell tight connections, and people buy them. However, I've bought connections with reasonable connection times that became much shorter after schedule changes. Rebooting isn't always an option.
"I've bought connections with reasonable connection times that became much shorter after schedule changes."- Yes happens a lot!
Had happened to me twice last year where weather delays meant I had <20 min to get across SFO and DEN for my connection. Surprisingly both times a good amount of people stayed seated but I was also “politely aggressive” in making my urgency known and pushing ahead.
The hardest part about these was since I’ve lost status the airline will no longer hold seats on two flights for me. With nearly full flights each...
Had happened to me twice last year where weather delays meant I had <20 min to get across SFO and DEN for my connection. Surprisingly both times a good amount of people stayed seated but I was also “politely aggressive” in making my urgency known and pushing ahead.
The hardest part about these was since I’ve lost status the airline will no longer hold seats on two flights for me. With nearly full flights each time I had to make the gamble to change my second flight in the app so I’m not stuck for hours or over night waiting for a seat or try to hope I can make the original.
Turned out okay both times but unnecessary stress. I wonder how well a policy of asking passenger up front (in economy) mid flight if they are willing to move to a seat near the back (right before beginning decent to trade with someone with a tight connection) for a free drink or extra miles would work
The problem with these courtesy disembarking requests is that there's not a great/clear way for people to know who is supposed to be given way to. Unless the FAs have been very clear and e.g. asked people to raise their hands and participate so people around them can actively see and be courteous. They rarely do that. And then even more basic, people just aren't listening that well.
The other thing is some airlines...
The problem with these courtesy disembarking requests is that there's not a great/clear way for people to know who is supposed to be given way to. Unless the FAs have been very clear and e.g. asked people to raise their hands and participate so people around them can actively see and be courteous. They rarely do that. And then even more basic, people just aren't listening that well.
The other thing is some airlines ask people to deplane row by row, basically asking/implying for everyone behind that row to remain seated. While it does yield a more courteous and less hectic process, it way underuses people's time to get ready and immediately out towards the exit when their row turn arrives. They have to spend the time now getting up and getting bags, leaving the whole forward aisle unused, when they could've been getting ready well beforehand if everyone were allowed to get up.
Sometimes if I have a long connection, the avgeek in me wants to be the last to disembark to take photos of the cabin heh
*arriving to the gate* (remain seated)
*ding* (your choice to get up, start collecting your things, within reason)