I completely agree. There are 2 sides to this situation, which is, to me, what makes it an interesting moral dilema. On one side, you help those in need of the occasional lift, and on the other side, you reinforce habits of some who consistently tread upon others.

I think the airline should have asked people to let others go ahead, instead of commanding it. Social pressure would have ensured the same result, but willingly.
And I think the people who got bumped to the front of the line should have thanked at least one person they moved ahead of.

I agree with Boomer completely. If you are only inconvenienced by extra waiting, so be it. Yes, airlines often don't staff the counters properly. Yes, lazy people will benefit over others.

But part of being generous is realizing that you're going to be treated unfairly, yet tolerating that for the benefit of others. That's something we all could be better at.

And you never know why some people are late. I usually arrive at the airport about 90 minutes before a flight. But a few months ago, we spent 25 minutes trying to hail a cab in Manhattan, and by the time we got to EWR, it was about 35 minutes before flight. The cabbie dropped us at the wrong terminal, so we took the monorail and then waited in line. We got to the front about 15 minutes before, and they wouldn't let us on the flight. So we endured a three-hour wait for the next one.

Were we on a strict timetable, that could've been bad. Either way, it would've been nice to have been able to check in right away and make our flight. Yet it was the same generosity that I'm endorsing that kept me from asking others if I could pass them in line, despite my need.

This problem is caused by the airlines.

It is nice that many of you would let the person go in front as I did when asked. My getting out of line delayed me, someone going to the front delays everyone in that line. If the airline moves some people to the front, that is one thing. When someone near the front lets someone in line, they make a decision for a lot of people behind them that might also have a time problem or have one created for them.

If you want to get an idea of what people in general really feel then I provide the following example that we have all seen.

Plane lands very late. It lands into a major hub. People are asked to remain in their seats and allow only those few passengers that are in major jeopardy of missing their connection to get off first. This seems to accelerate the number of people that get out of their seats before the "fasten seat belt light" goes off and almost everyone crowds the aisle and the poor people that had 60 minutes to make connections, find that the 10 minutes left quickly disappears as the slow progression of "everyone" getting off first blocks those truly in need. That is when there is no question that some have an issue and yet the majority of people just push and shove anyway.

Generalization:

"Everyone" is in a hurry, that is why we fly.

Back to the airlines. They know in advance how many passengers are coming, about when and with how much luggage. The lines could "alway" not exceed 15 minutes if they really wanted to make them so. As for the late plane, perhaps more ontime flights would be a goal they could try.

Bosox, I agree. People can and do abuse the kindness of others. However, unless I've seen the specific person before, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

I think the message I'd want to send to my children, I dont have any(That I know of )
would be "be kind to thy fellow person" as opposed to "cheaters never prosper".

One time I was connecting in (I think) MSP and the person in front of me was very rude to the gate agent. About 10 mins later, I'm checking into the NW worldclub. Who's in front of me? you guessed it. Only he his membership card has expired. Now if he was nice to the gate agent, I might have invited him in as a guest, but since he was rude to her, I let the idiot pay.

Also, see the following thread from about a year ago, I had another run in with a jerk, boy I must attract these sorts
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/001821.html

I agree 100% with boomer!

BTW, OMNI - Listening to Dennis Miller in the background on MNF right now (13-0 NE over SF) I also feel really bad about the other Boomer having been replaced! A bit sad, in my view!


In response to Boomer below:

Yes, but it's tough working with Al and Co, and they were so lacking in class the way they let him go and also..., well, a comedian replaces you and Al introduces him as 'someone who knows more about football than anyone I know!'

BTW- Dennis Miller didn't quite seem ready for the regular season. Time will tell if viewers are ready for Dennis Miller.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/s/AP...ers-Debut.html


[This message has been edited by doc (edited 07-31-2000).]

Doc:

I don't miss that "other" Boomer at all

One of my primary goals in life is to avoid all lines. I have actually become quite adept at this and the only line I have not been able to find a way to consistently circumvent is security.

This usually is a most pressing problem when I am running like a madwoman for a standby flight. On those occasions when I am truly panicked and there is a long security line, I simply go to the front of the line and say, "I am about to miss my connection. Would it be ok with all of you if I cut ahead just this once?"

They are always happy to help me out. I guess that's one of the advantages of being an old lady who looks like she might be having a heart attack after running through an airport.

Northwest airlines makes FC passengers wait in line 50 minutes???

Does ANY other part of this question weigh as importantly as that one atrocity?

In June I was flying EWR-FLL with my wife, 3 year old son and 6 month infant. We live 90 minutes from the airport but managed to arrive 2 hours early for our noon departure. Our flight was cancelled and we had to wait 65 minutes in a line just to rebooked. There were only 7 or 8 people ahead of us and 4 agents but the line never moved. Despite begging and pleading and the intervention of a supervisor the best the airline could do is get us on the 7:15 am flight the next morning.

My wife and I awoke at 4 am and had to wake the children at 4:30 am so we could leave for the airport and arrive by 6 am. We arrived on time but could not believe our eyes. At 5:55 am the curb side check in lines, of which there were many, were so long that had we chosen to wait on them we would have missed our flight. The lines inside were even worse. I tried to cut the line and I actually got yelled at by the next few people in line who shouted things like "why don't you try getting to the airport on time" and "the end of the line is back there." Not wanting trouble I did not cut the line: instead my wife took the baby and cut in and nobody said a word including the people who yelled at me. We made our flight on time only because she cut in on the enormous line.

If anyone thinks what we did was wrong, please tell me what the solution is. We arrived at the airport at 5:55 am (with two children) for a 7:15 am flight (the only flight that the airline could reschedule us on) and we still had to cut the line to avoid missing our flight. What else should I have done? How early should one have to get to airport for a short domestic flight?

I was 1 and a 1/2 hours early for a first fight out of Oakland on Southwest to Salt Lake. They were running late getting us checked in. I had to check an oversized bag of computer equipment. The line got longer and longer. I missed my flight because they would not let anyone move up in line. About 50 of us missed our flights out that morning.
I caught the 4th fight to salt lake and Southwest did nothing about it. Not even drinks. I will never use them again no matter how good the price. If it is clearly the airlines fault they shoud have made calls for those who were about to miss flights.

QL - It happens all the time. Thank God for the Worldclubs! And the other airline lternatives!

Amazing NJ - You don't mention the carrier, but most (some more than others) would just as soon see you arrive a day or two early and camp out on line overnight - like you were trying to get Stones tickets at the Garden! And it's EWR too!

Sorry to learn of these travails and only hope that matters improve - and quickly!

CUSTOMER FIRST!

I am all for helping people make their flight even if it means I have to stand in line that much longer. That is what we are all at the airport for, right?

Certainly it seems that the planning that goes in to staffing the counters often leaves ALLOT to be desired

. . . and from a 1999 trip:

"SK from CPH was late because they didn�t have the flight log for the plane -- some bright spark had left it in Stockholm and we sat on the tarmack for 40 minutes while they got special permission to leave without it/get a replacement. As a result we arrived late in LHR which caused additional problems. LH/SK were unable to issue all boarding passes when I checked at the start of my flights in GVA.

Once at LHR, I had to go out through security even though I was in transit in the same terminal. I probably should have gone out through arrivals through regular customs and back through regular security and I would have had less anxiety. Anyway, one of the security personnel got me to jump the queue (hence this post) bypassing lots of passengers.

I got to AC check-in and they just redirected me back to the boarding gates where a buggy was waiting. They whisked me off to gate 29 where AC had my boarding passes prepared -- I was the last one on the plane.

Sure glad to have been able to jump the security queue (with permission of course)!

Amazing NJ-

First, I'm sure many other people were in a similar position to you in that circumstance. Just because you have kids gives you or anyone else no more rights than anyone else. The fault there is clearly with the airline for not getting the line moving.

In my circumstance, the line actually moved. It probably went a person per minute, and the counter was more or less adequately staffed. The problem was that about a dozen people arrived no more than 35 minutes before the flight. Had they missed their flight at 12:55 AM, it would have been their own fault.

I am in complete agreement that reasonable standards should be set as to the maximum time one must wait in line. But minimums should be set as well. And if you arrive at SeaTac 30-40 minutes before your flight with bags to check, that's kind of your own fault. I thought about this some more, and two things upset me-

First, not one of the tardy passengers ever acknowledged the inconvenience they put others through. Second, the people who were inconvenienced were not given the option of being inconvenienced, but were mandated to do so by Northwest. As much personal freedom we give up when we travel, it just annoyed me that my freedom to decide whether to let someone cut ahead of me was now gone, and my humanity in the eyes of the airline further eroded.

Amazing:

In a situation like that, I would recommend looking for a supervisor from the airline.

Another thing you can try, is to try and check-in at the airport club of the airline.

I agree with Bosox, that the airlines are to blame. But just because someone is getting on the line 35 mins before the flight, doesn't mean they didnt try a different line first, like curbside and it doesn't mean they didnt get to the airport on time.

Looks can be very deceiving.

Another thing, is you could check in at the gate, even with checked baggage,unless they are so large they won't fit in the xray machines. Just ask they to gate check the bags. I've done that once or twice at Newark when the lines were just too long.

[This message has been edited by Boomer (edited 08-01-2000).]