Pax ignoring seat belt sign
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We seem to have two categories here:
Those that feel the need to arise before the aircraft has come to a complete stop and the engines shut down. Agree these idiots should be taken outside and spanked.
Those that have a need, some legitimate - some just impatience to get off the frigging airplane. Needs include short connections (to other planes and trains), because the airline hasn't kept their schedule (for whatever reason, yes I know it's rarely their fault
).
I commend you that are happy to sit there and read your book, but often I need to get going. I don't arise before shutdown, but I don't wait for the guys in the pointy end to turn off the seatbelt light. The SN flight I took last night didn't turn off the light, and it was still on when I deplaned.
Those that feel the need to arise before the aircraft has come to a complete stop and the engines shut down. Agree these idiots should be taken outside and spanked.
Those that have a need, some legitimate - some just impatience to get off the frigging airplane. Needs include short connections (to other planes and trains), because the airline hasn't kept their schedule (for whatever reason, yes I know it's rarely their fault
).I commend you that are happy to sit there and read your book, but often I need to get going. I don't arise before shutdown, but I don't wait for the guys in the pointy end to turn off the seatbelt light. The SN flight I took last night didn't turn off the light, and it was still on when I deplaned.
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Surely, if you need to be off the plane quickly, for whatever reason, book early and get row 1 (A,B,C are the best).* I've done this when connections have been tight, and found that I can be off the plane and through passport control without seeing any other PAX from my flight at all. I do get somewhat annoyed when there is a bus to the terminal, which puts me in with the crowd, and, since first off the plane, I'm likely to be last off the bus (why can't the airlines tell us if a bus is likely at booking time?) However. I never, ever stand before the light goes off, or unless told it's okay by the CC.
* But be prepared to be snarled at if you are short and taking up a legroom seat that I wasn't able to get
* But be prepared to be snarled at if you are short and taking up a legroom seat that I wasn't able to get
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I had a hat off interview some years ago due to a press article saying that the Prime Minister's aircraft touched down so gently tbat the press corps sleeping on the floor and tables never even woke up. Stn Cdr didn't read it but apparently the AOC read the Daily Mail. Sad! Thus the 'hat off'.
(why can't the airlines tell us if a bus is likely at booking time?)
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Legacy Driver, gate assignment is down to airport operations and not the airline. It is not (and cannot) be planned far in advance. Gate changes are also inevitable due to delayed departures (thus the gate not being free when it should be) and other operational reasons on the day. I use a particular city-pair service quite regularly. I travel on the same schedule, and on the same days of the week, and the assigned gates vary all the time. I have been on operators whose CC advise pax on arrival that they should expect a bus ride - but there's still that mad scramble to get out of their seats. I just can't understand why.
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Surely, if you need to be off the plane quickly, for whatever reason, book early and get row 1 (A,B,C are the best).* I've done this when connections have been tight, and found that I can be off the plane and through passport control without seeing any other PAX from my flight at all. I do get somewhat annoyed when there is a bus to the terminal, which puts me in with the crowd, and, since first off the plane, I'm likely to be last off the bus (why can't the airlines tell us if a bus is likely at booking time?) However. I never, ever stand before the light goes off, or unless told it's okay by the CC.
* But be prepared to be snarled at if you are short and taking up a legroom seat that I wasn't able to get
* But be prepared to be snarled at if you are short and taking up a legroom seat that I wasn't able to get
Regards knowing about a bus; how about looking out the window when you arrive?
If there's a large building just outside the airplane then it's reasonable to assume you can get straight off. If you appear to be in the middle of a car park full of airplanes with no buildings for 100's of meters around then just relax and get on the bus after everybody else. If you knew at booking there would be a bus would you not book the flight?TBH if your connection is that tight that being in row 1 or 10 (or on a bus) makes the difference between getting the connection or not then you probably shouldn't be booking the connection.
Last edited by t1grm; 20th Jul 2013 at 09:43.
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t1grm, unfortunately even that doesn't always work unless you're familiar with the airport. There are always exceptions. For example, arriving BRU on a non Schengen flight you may find your aircraft parking at the Schengen terminal (and vv). You will deplane via the airbridge then go down some stairs, situated mid airbridge, to a waiting bus. Pax unfamiliar with the airport will probably not know that and mistakingly believe they are deplaning directly into a terminal.
TBH if your connection is that tight that being in row 1 or 10 (or on a bus) makes the difference between getting the connection or not then you probably shouldn't be booking the connection.
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If I'm in an aisle seat I will always respond to a request from my row mates to make way. Returning on a flight recently and seated in a D aisle seat, the woman in E actually climbed over me - no words spoken, not even an apologetic smile - and took her place amongst the standees for 3-4 minutes thereby saving that vital three seconds.
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Buses
Apologies - my comment about buses was meant to be light-hearted. However, there are some flights I've used which, after a couple of times, one comes to realise are always going to stuck at the far end of the airport. Since that seems to be standard for that flight, is it really unacceptable to be informed that it is likely? Also, regarding connections, I wasn't just referring to planes. Catching trains can be just as important when travelling for work on a restricted travel budget or when I need to be elsewhere the day after. Yes, things can go wrong regardless of the mode of transport (the number of break-down vans in long-stay carparks is proof of that!), but I don't consider that my point was ill-made.
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Op requesting feedback
As the OP I was hoping to get some feedback from CC as to why BA ignores the rules? It just made me think that EJ might be better in other ways. When I hear the standard "doors to manual and cross check" it is very rare to see the CC swap sides after disarming the slides; is this because the indication is clearly visible across the aircraft?
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Or your flight has just arrived an hour late ...
