To Not understand why people get so selfish at the airport?

[virilityisbad]

I just don’t get why brits on their family
holidays get so stressy. I walk through the airport seeing them flapping about and highly strung. People are hugely territorial of their personal space. The sheer hostility towards fellow human beings in the queue for boarding.

Then on the plane, people up and down, up and down checking/fetching stuff from their baggage in the overhead lockers.

Then when landed, people in the middle
of the plane deciding they deserve to disembark first and so blocking the aisle for everyone else to get their bags.

What is it about airports that make people so selfish/stressed out

You've answered your own question! You fly regularly with work so you're used to all the procedures and find it straight forward. I now only fly once or twice a year as I have little children. Before kids I could just swan through with ease. I went on city breaks with only a small handbag and cabin bag, all my toiletries in little clear bottles I'd bought from boots.

Now it's really stressful, I have to check in a load of heavy bags, car seats, buggies. I'm unfamiliar with the exact rules of the airport I'm in (do I have to take my belt and shoes off? Is there an eye scanner? Where is the lane for buggies? Where do I check in oversize luggage? Have things been moved around since the last time I was here?) Add to that the stress of keeping all the kids together, whining, arguing, folding and unfolding buggies with nowhere to put the baby down etc

It's no wonder I dread air travel now!

@kenandbarbie As flying with small children is stressful for all - especially for the children themselves, this does really beg the question of why on earth people do it!!!
Unless it flying with small children (and buggies and oversize luggage!) is absolutely necessary for work or family
Just why?

I find Gatwick one of the worst - security shouting instructions and almost in a panic to get everyone through. Other huge airports manage security calmly and with quiet instructions, not sure why they have to shout so loudly. It is also far too busy now for the size of airport.

Re getting off quickly and trolley cases - many passengers at airports I fly through have connections to make and only have hand luggage so this can explain why they would like to be off first, however agree they should do it nicely!

My parents (in their 70s now but have always been like this) are real stress head at airports. Panicking and flapping about everything, super stressed about every tiny part of the process. No idea why - I can see how it may have been trickier with small children in tow on the night flights we used to do as kids. But they're even worse now,my mother starts getting worked up a week beforehand, as soon as online check-in is possible in fact! She gets so angry with other people in the queue too. They couldn't believe I was 'brave' enough to fly somewhere with a baby and 7year old once. It was the easiest flight I ever did as I didn't have them there stressing everyone out and snapping everyone's head off, unlike holidays I took with them since!

I fly with my young kids every year or two and like most things, it's only stressful if you let it be. Queuing up for security, waiting around for a while, queuing up a while longer to get on the plane, sitting down or sleeping for a few (for us a lot) of hours, then getting off and waiting for suitcases to appear. It's not exactly a pressure-cooker environment tbh.

I haven't flown for years but remember the queuing hassle and arsy people.
We cruise for our holidays now and while the security is much the same, there is nobody getting rattled or rude, no shoving and pushing. It's all quite civilised. People are happy and excited because they know that as soon as they walk along the tunnel they are into luxury. Gorgeous food and a good time
I would hate to fly anywhere now Hats off to all you ladies who do it

Happypelican we flew from Birmingham for the first time this year and i agree .I set off the scanner due to metalwork in ankle .The security staff were not in the slightest pleasant literally barked over there
meaning body scanner .I no problem with the checks but jeez the tone of voice actually made me feel like criminal. Happened coming back from Italy and the difference much more pleasant. We flew with Jet2 and they loaded people from the rear and front at the same time .Think will stick to Manchester airport in future.

I first flew as an adult about 35 years ago, and flying was way easier then. Airports were less crowded. Staff checked you in and were used to people who had not flown before so were helpful, security check was much easier.

ITA with *Hearthside! I emailed the airport 5 days before flying to say we are not sure DD can go through a scanner due to a battery in her chest. No answer. At the airport security, we said she can’t go through a scanner - security got really aggressive with DH. It’s obvious she has learning disability. In the end, they made her take her head protection off and a woman did a body search of her. I knew she could fall down unconscious at any moment on their hard floor and most likely we’d need to go to A & E, thereby missing the flight. They told me not to be so stressed, as the woman was first aid trained - which is shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted! Like she could do stitches or an x ray or a CT scan!

I was flying out of Dublin with my son a couple of years ago when a man and woman very rudely pushed straight to the front at security, saying that their flight was boarding and they were in a hurry.

I felt very smug when I picked my belongings out of the tray and saw them both having their cases emptied out and a number of bottle and containers over 100ml removed and confiscated.

MAG can eat a bag of dicks - Manchester and Stansted airports are the two worst I have ever had the misfortune to travel through. It's like there is a deliberate effort being made to make the journey more painful.

I fly to Ireland about 6-8 times a year with two small kids, I am brutally efficient at packing and being ready to go through security. The staff on the assistance line at MAN T3 have deliberately resorted the queue of trays on the belt to make sure that my sling came out last and then stood there staring at the buggy while watching me chase a 2 year old with a baby in my arms. Absolute fuckers, I'd genuinely avoid the assistance lane there if I could but can't get the buggy into any other lane.

Apart from that, hell at airports is other people. The general security rules have been the same for years and they aren't difficult. If I can do it with my toddlers tantruming, middle aged John and Jane on their annual holiday can too.

It is not all about cheap flights. I have flown to some countries with cheap flights where the staff at the airport have always been brilliant and very helpful.

As flying with small children is stressful for all - especially for the children themselves, this does really beg the question of why on earth people do it!!!
Unless it flying with small children (and buggies and oversize luggage!) is absolutely necessary for work or family Just why?

It usually is for us - both sets of families abroad and GPs not well. I don’t think this is unusual.

Otherwise, everything badlad said 7 pages ago. Plus the feeling of being fleeced when you’re charged 2x for everything and 3x for parking what you’d pay in central bloody London.

MontStMichel that is just awful .I just don't get why the staff need to be so obnoxious and aggressive .They are doing a job agreed but in your case that really was awful .Truly makes you wonder sometimes if it is power trip thing .

I haven't flown since 2002 for my honeymoon !

This thread is giving me massive anxiety !

Are airport staff in Britain particularly badly Treated?

Not sure that they (airport staff) are particularly badly treated, although I doubt that their salaries are good. They probably see loads of bad behaviour by drunk or entitled people and it has turned them against the public!

Also, I think some airline staff really enjoy shouting and bossing people around. They are the same people who work as hi vis marshals at outside concerts and theme parks. I had one security man at a UK airport say, ‘if you don’t hurry up [I was taking off complicated shoes] I’ll get you to strip right here, how would you like that?”. He wasn’t laughing.

I think the nasty atmosphere at airports stems from the fact that they hate passengers. It feels like they can’t wait to fleece you or catch you out.

Eg:

NO you can’t just get somebody to drop you off without paying £4 you bastards. Why should you drive along a road without paying?

NO we will not provide enough seats in departures. We don’t want you to sit down, we want you to GO INTO SHOPS BUY THINGS BUY THINGS GIVE US YOUR MONEY. You can only sit down if you go into one of our food outlets and GIVE US MONEY.

Walk through our duty free shop. There is no other way to departures. Walk through our shop now. Buy stuff, buy stuff.

At security: take your coat off, put your coat on, stand there, no stand there, go over there, take your shoes off put your shoes on, you forgot to take your clear plastic bag out of your handbag and put it on the tray we’ll make you pay for this you bastard, stand over there in the naughty corner.

Being a bit dense here - but why would boarding from the back be any soffits boarding from the front

Because you get people all over the plane boarding, and they then stand in the aisle blocking it while they put their bag in the overhead locker, which then means that if you are sitting further back, you have to wait Whereas, if they boarded say the back 5 rows first, you could walk all the way through to the back and people could board more quickly behind you for the seats further forward. At least, that's the way I imagine it. However the fact that it doesn't happen makes me think the airlines have tried it and discounted it, which was why I was wondering if there was anyone working for an airline who could shed light.

By boarding from the back I thought you meant entering the plane from the front stairs instead of the back stairs!!!

My tip for avoiding airport stress is to travel with an elderly person and book assistance

Oh, limited - I so agree. It's like being a first class passenger (well, I imagine) and, yes, you are treated like royalty

The only way to fly is business class / first class. Staff are so NICE! No queues at check in, fast track security, the lounge, priority boarding, seat that turns into a bed, calm atmosphere, fast track customs at the the other end and priority baggage.

I flew Ryanair recently and it was depressing. Huge check in queues, herded like cattle, lots of waiting around. Other passengers pushing and shoving and being really loud. The staff simply could not care less. The cabin crew could not give a toss, very lazy safety demonstration which we couldn’t hear, very poor cabin secure checks pre take off and landing.

Not the Germs, Frens, Amers or even those we're allegedly not allowed to refer to by 4 letters for fear of 'offending' them, only Britons act this way? You really need to get out more.

And you need to stop being a keyboard racist @LadyRannaldini

The only way to fly is business class / first class. Staff are so NICE! No queues at check in, fast track security, the lounge, priority boarding, seat that turns into a bed, calm atmosphere, fast track customs at the the other end and priority baggage.

Damn right. Last time I flew, I shuddered at the queue to check in for economy. Nobody was waiting in the business class queue, and the priority security check likewise had no passengers going through it, so I breezed through. I went straight to the lounge and drank champagne, until 40 minutes before take off, when I went to gate and could board straight away.

There's also loads more overhead locker space, and storage space around the seat as well.

Makes the flight and airport experience a pleasure, not a pain.

I imagine many people are on the spectrum or have sensory disorders.

I become quite disoriented at airports as I'm deaf and it's overwhelming.
The motion from all the people, the lights, and what sounds like a roar from all the people talking and other noises.

I often dissociate in queues and not notice when staff is speaking to me.

That said, I don't shout or push around. Sometimes I feel like I'm in slow motion at the airport.

I’m not on the spectrum, ranty - but what you describe is exactly how I feel in airports. Down to that roar!

The problem with travel nowadays is that so many people do it.
Rammed motorways, crowded trains, airports with everyone milling around and not enough space.

Used to be more for the elite. Now it's for everyone.