Airplane Etiquette

As a moderate air traveler, I subscribe to the following in airplane etiquette:  the person in the middle seat gets primary access to both armrests; even though you can, you shouldn't recline your seat if there's someone directly behind you; and as soon as the seat belt light goes off at the gate, the aisle people should get up and get their gear out of the overhead bins.  I didn't even know that last one was a debate until I read this piece:

But there’s one bit of travel etiquette that has been spreading steadily online for five years that has become something of a mantra in recent months — and it's stupid.

It's the notion that it's bad to stand up once the plane lands. Buzzfeed even had an article headlined, "If You Stand In The Airplane Aisle As Soon As The Plane Lands, You Are Wrong."

The objectors here think they’re preaching good behavior, but really, they are being inconsiderate. 

Maybe this kind of writing is why Buzzfeed is shutting down, but I digress:

A considerate person has her ATM card in her hand by the time she gets to the front of the ATM line, and when she’s using the machine, she concentrates on the screen rather than staring at the birds or the clouds. She might get her cash only 10 seconds sooner by being quick and prepared, but the person seventh in line might get his cash a minute earlier if everyone in front of him is prepared and quick. That might make the difference between catching the next bus or missing it.

This is why the standard objection to the immediate-standers is not only dumb, but self-damning. 

The people making this objection literally only think, “What is in it for you if you stand?” They don’t think, “What behavior might help other people?”

So here's why, when I have the aisle seat, I stand up right away and start gathering my stuff: Yes, it's true that if you stand up once the "fasten seatbelt" sign turns off, you can’t go anywhere. BuzzFeed argues that this is why everyone should “wait until the doors have opened and it's your turn to get up and gather your s***.”

But gathering your things ahead of time is actually the courteous thing to do.

You have downtime while the doors are closed, and if you’re standing, you can use that downtime to get your bag down from the overhead bin. Maybe this saves you only 10 seconds, but if every aisle-sitter did it (both sides of the aisle for 30 rows), then the last person on the plane will get off 10 minutes sooner.

And there’s more. When I stand up once the seatbelt sign goes off, I am often able to pass a backpack or jacket to my rowmate or even get the roller bag from above my seat down for the lady two rows ahead, who otherwise would be clogging up more of the lane when it was “her turn” to get up.

Another benefit to others is this: When I’m standing in the aisle, the middle-seat person, who just spent two hours with no elbow room, now has a little bit more space. If the sitters had their way, we’d all be crammed into the same square footage we were crammed in during takeoff and landing.

Courtesy and consideration are about thinking about how you can help others or at least avoid inconveniencing them. Too many of the social media scolds think only of themselves. 

The one and only time I flew on a foreign discount airline, they enforced the opposite.  A flight attendant would stand in the aisle; anyone in front of that flight attendant could stand up and get their belongings, everyone else had to stay seated.  When those people had mostly cleared out, the flight attendant would back up a few rows and those new rows of passengers would stand and get their gear.  It was so inefficient.  Yes, it looked orderly, but it was inefficient.

I'm flying to Mexico in mid-June.  While I booked the flight through Mexico's flag carrier, the flight will be on an American airline.  I don't see Americans staying seated because some softhead without good reasons says they should.