Airline behavior

What parts of “discontinue the use of personal electronic items and cellular phones” and “return your tray tables and seat backs to their upright and locked position” are hard to understand? I just want to know why most airline travelers seem unable to comprehend these simple instructions. Or is the problem that people just think these instructions don’t apply to them?

Well, I don’t much care about seat backs and tray tables, but the cell phone thing is a real sticking point for me. Those things really do interfere with aircraft instruments, which puts everyone on the plane potentially in danger. Just because you, the compulsive cell-phone yammerer, are too stupid to live, does not mean you have the right to endanger or delay the rest of us. I’d like the maximum chance of getting there on time and alive, thank you.

Next airline beef: One of the reasons it takes so long to load airplanes is people in the aisle loading luggage, which half the time doesn’t really fit, into overhead bins while people are trying to get by. This is why they start loading from the back of the plane. This is not a difficult concept. Why, then, do so many rocket scientists insist on going up there before their row numbers are called? For an extra couple of minutes of that lovely cabin air? The luxurious seats? What? Again, all this behavior does is inconvenience other people. Wait for your damn row.

(original date: 1999.09.17)