‘If you’re standing up on the plane before the doors are open, you’re an idiot’

IF you’re the type of person who stands up before the plane doors are open after your flight has landed, you’re an idiot.

I’ve been working as a flight attendant for almost 10 years and it’s baffling how many people think they can steal a march on others by standing up and lurking in the aisle before they can go anywhere.

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In this, my latest blog for Sun Online Travel, I’m going to explain exactly why you should sit down and just be patient instead of standing up and causing problems for everyone else.

I’ll start with some sympathy for the standers – they often can’t help themselves and I understand it.

The last thing you want when you’ve touched down from a long flight is to spend another second in your seat, especially if you’re tall and you don’t have much legroom.

But even then, unless you’re in the aisle seat, you’re going to have to have to squat down beneath the overhead bins, which isn’t really that much more comfortable.

You’ll just end up with pain in both your neck and your knees, instead of just one of those, which doesn’t sound like much of a compromise to me.

Also, it can be really dangerous to stand up, especially if the plane is still moving and you’re yet to reach the terminal.

It’s like taking off your seatbelt and trying to move around in a car just because you’ve come off the motorway. The vehicle is still moving and it can still be very dangerous.

In fact, more injuries happen to passengers when the plane is on the ground than when it’s in the air and a lot of the time it’s because they aren’t in their seat, with their seatbelt on, as they ought to be.

Now, for those just trying to get off the plane first, I can’t stress this enough, you’re not going anywhere fast.

You’re better off sitting down until the plane has at least reached the terminal, then you can start to think about gathering your belongings and getting ready to get off.

Even then, you should be going row by row. Stand up, pick up your luggage and get off the plane one by one.

It’s orderly, it’s efficient and it prevents people from trying to shove their way to the front.

I know some people are a bit slower than others and struggle to get their luggage down quickly and if the row ahead is clear, it’s fine to move past them.

But if there’s still people in front of them in the aisle, you’re going to just get held up again there, so what’s the rush?

Even beyond the plane, you’re just going to bump into all the same people in the airport terminal at passport control anyway. So really, what’s the point?

We’re all in this together, we’ll all be waiting in the same queues, so think about the most efficient way for everyone to get off and it’ll work in your favour too.

If you do insist on being one of the first off the plane then pick a seat on the left hand side near the front, or near the back if it’s a smaller aircraft. That’s the side of the plane you’ll be getting off.

You’ll have to do some reading beforehand to work out what type of plane you’re on, but from there you can find the best spots to beat the queues.

If it’s a cheaper airline you’ll probably have to pay for that convenience, but a quick exit is one of the benefits.

Either way, it’s going to shave a few seconds off your time rather than anything significant – and you’ll still look like a total idiot rushing to get off before anyone else.

But the rest of us are happy for you to leave first because it lets us get on with our orderly and controlled alighting, while you’re getting flustered with your hasty retreat.

We’ll still get to see you again at passport control and the baggage carousel inside the terminal.

Meanwhile, this pilot recommended a clever way to always be the first off the plane.

And another pilot revealed why you should never change your seat mid-flight.

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