AIBU - Etiquette disembarking plane

[planeetiquette]

I recently flew into LA, the flight was jam packed and the overhead lockers filled up quickly so the flight attendants took bags off people and put them wherever they could find space in the lockers.

I was in an aisle seat, and had a connecting flight, so when the seatbelt sign went off I stood up like everyone else, got my carry on out of the overhead locker and waited to disembark.

That's when an American lady from the row in front of me turned to me and said she needed to get past me to get to her luggage and then bring it backto her place in the queue.

I said sorry, that's not going to work as the aisle is really narrow and filled with luggage right now, it'd be best if you sat down and waited until some people have disembarked so there's more space.

She got angry and said "Fine, if you don't move I'm going to BLOCK the aisle. We'll get the flight attendants involved"

It wasn't just her, there was also a group of men in front who needed their luggage from the back of the plane as well and they backed her up (!)

After such a long flight I was over it, and said in my most calm but firm voice:

"Guys, waiting is a fact of life, you're just going to have to sit and wait.

"Your luggage is down the back of the plane. I'm sorry but that's not my fault. This is a very narrow space and I don't know what you want me to do."

In the end the flight attendants never got involved, as someone behind me passed luggage over my head to the lady and the men.

At the time I thought I was in the right (I fly a lot for work). But the more I think about it, is that just how they do it in the US? If you're "ahead" in the rows, you retain the right to get off first even if you're not prepared? If that's the case, I understand why she was angry.

The fact that other people backed her up suggests despite your even tone, you were being condescending and a bit of a dick

@planeetiquette so you were being condescending, I would not let another adult speak to me like that.

I'd have absolutely told you where to go.

I think it’s fairly arrogant of you to decide that she wasn’t allowed to try and retrieve her case, that would have got my back up to be honest. You are giving off tones of your connecting flight being more important than anyone else’s onward plans, maybe that didn’t go down well with the other passengers who intervened?.

I had 35 minutes to get off the plane at Doha in time to make the connecting flight to Brisbane - made it at the last call so yes, it can happen

"Come on, connecting flights aren't so tight that the last person off the plane would miss it."

I envy your innocence!!

Have you never flown into the US where the immigration queue can take hours?! There’s every need to rush instead of sitting down and waiting for every passenger to get in the queue before you!

Yes that's correct, the men that also wanted to hold everyone up while they got their luggage from the back of the plane.

I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one!

Not sure why you posted this thread then OP??

Well you posted on AIBU…. So one would’ve assumed you were interested in other’s opinions. My mistake 🤣

😂 you have no idea

@Luxell934@Haydenn @CleanShirt As per my OP, I'm asking if there's different etiquette in the US.

OP - AIBU?
MN - Yes
OP - Agree to disagree.

This place 😂

It’s so you can be in the first half of passengers disembarking, rather than the last half. It means you can get to passport control / baggage reclaim / connecting flights / the toilets more quickly. 😊

You don't know if they had connecting flights to catch either though. It might not be your fault that their luggage was stored away from their seats, but neither was it theirs. A bit of sympathy might have gone a long way.

Before the doors open then why can't people just shuffle around the cabin and collect luggage and return to their seats and then file off sensibly once the doors open. I never understand why people have to behave like gorillas on planes. Although that is unfair to gorillas...

I simply do not understand the crazed panic that occurs as soon as a plane stops and everyone jumps up, scrambles for their stuff and acts like the world is about to end unless they ask get off in an instant. It's just illogical.
The very rare exception is if you have a connection with an extremely small window to catch it ( time is obviously imperative then). Luckily on the only two occasions this has happened to me, crew have actually allowed myself and the other handful of passengers making those connections to disembark first. I have seen this a handful of times over the years, presumably when the margins are tiny.

It would make do much more sense if the rows were just disembarked in order and that way the would be none of this kerfuffle and racing.

I'll happily set in my seat until its all died down and just walk off at the end when the aisle is clear. I can't be bothered with it. Life is too short for the stress of the Altercations, shoving etc.

If I had been one of the last off my recent flight to Dulles Airport in the US it would have added an extra hour to the time spent queuing at immigration. Worse if I had got caught up with passengers disembarking from the flight that landed just after us. They only had 3 staff on immigration and any one with a non-western passport seemed to have a 5 min interrogation.

You sweet summer child 😂

I'm American and in that situation, I would do exactly as you suggested: wait until the aisle was clear because everyone had exited and go and get my luggage from where it had been stored. I don't think this is a nationality thing. Realistically, if there are people in the way, you just have to wait until they have moved out of the way to get through.

Yes she should have waited.

I don’t understand why you didn’t just move back to your seat. Holding your luggage. And let her at least get to her luggage.

In answer to your question, I expect things are different according to where in the US. Certainly from my experience though not about flying.

By virtue of the fact that it’s hand luggage, surely you can just hold it or rest it on your knee and it doesn’t need to block the aisle? You seemed to feel like your preferences trumped everyone else’s which is nothing to do with where you live and everything to do your attitude.

I knew I had a tight connection so I didn't check any bags, just took carry on.

So my carry on was heavy, the bottom of the suitcase was dirty from being wheeled on the ground, the rows were too narrow to wheel it into the row, and I wouldn't have wanted to hold it in my tiny economy seat.

I also believed I had right of way as I was in the queue and was ready to go with my suitcase.

So as per my OP the aisle was jam packed with lots of people ready to disembark with their luggage.

I'd never heard of someone going against the flow to the back of the plane to get their luggage, then going back to the front, let alone getting aggro because people are in the way. It was a tight aisle and wasn't going to work.

I would have let her go past, by the time she had fought her way through, found her bag and tried to fight her way back then Op would probably have been walking through the terminal.