Manners when exiting a plane: stand at your row or move forward?
 

When I get off a plane, as I am usually in an aisle seat and am pretty quick, When the "fasten seatbelts" sign goes off, I usually get up from my seat and walk forward as many rows as I can before the aisle gets crowded. I have no problem if others do that in front of me. I figure that the quick and agile people can get off first, and then people who prefer to take their time slowly get out of their seats and do whatever they want.

Recently, people who do not look like frequent flyers in coach have stood up when the fasten seatbelt sign goes off. Instead of moving forward, though, they just stand their at their row, even though the aisle is free for quite a ways towards the exit. They keep standing there until passengers in rows in front of them have stood up, gotten their bags and moved forward.

I can see that those non-frequent flyers don't want to be seen as cutting in line, but they're holding everyone up behind them.

So which is proper plane etiquette when getting off:

1. Stand up and zip forward if you can (if people in rows ahead of you are still seated), or

2. Stand up and stand there until every single person in front of you has gotten up, gotten bags and moved towards the exit?

To be clear, I am NOT saying that it's OK to cut in front of people who are standing in front of you.

EDITED TO ADD: The question is, "during the few seconds before anyone else has stood up, is it OK to move forward a few rows"? I have never gotten a bad reaction, and I see people (usually frequent flyers) do it during the workweek all the time.

Thanks.

Stand in your row and let everyone file out in order. Rushing past everyone is rude, IMHO (and from the reactions of my fellow pax when folks do it, in others' opinion also).

There are obvious exceptions - late flight where FA has asked to allow tight connections to deplane fist, etc.

+1

There is only a couple minutes difference between the two, and if people move forward, it only causes the front of the plane to get more congested, especially as people need to pull their bags out from the overheads.

And frequent flyers tend to sit at the front of the plane anyway.

To add to this discussion, this happened to me this past Thursday on an AC flight from ATL to YYZ.
I am sitting in the aisle seat, and the plane landed and at the gate. Its one of those narrowbody E75, so there is not much room in the aisle, other passengers in the aisle seat got up, and hence taking the space near my seat. So I didn't bother getting up to stand in the aisle and forced to be within 2 inches of other passengers.

My window seatmate, saw that I wasn't moving to get up, she literally jumped over my seat to get into what little aisle space that was available, forcing the person in front and back to make adjustments to their position to let her in.

Who was in the right here? Should I had tried to jam myself into that little space?
Not sure about everyone else, but I don't like to invade other's person space, and be literally breathing in their neck.

I did get a last laugh with this 'lady' though. While walking to the Canadian customs area, that Thursday night, there was a long line up, and they were holding passengers up in the 2nd floor before even letting them downstairs to the customs area. Downstairs were a zoo. I would say its a good 45-60 minutes wait for customs clearance. She didn't have a Nexus pass and had to wait in line, while I walked right by her and downstairs and out in 2 minutes.
Of course, I did re-iterated my comment to her that maybe now she can learn how to wait in line.

If the person in the row in front of me is actively getting up and into the aisle I won't try to push past him. But if they're sitting and waiting (some people don't want to deal with the crowd) then I will step forward.

there is absolutely nothing wrong with walking forward if there is space available and you don't need to push or slide past anyone. i can see how it's annoying if someone stands in the aisle to block your way, even if they could have moved forward, but there is really nothing you can do about it.

i personally don't get the urgent need to stand up when the seatbelt light goes off. i'm not talking about people who need* to make connections, but those who must stand up, even though the door hasn't opened and no one is moving. while i prefer the window, if i have an aisle seat i will remain seated until it makes sense to get up. i mean, you aren't going anywhere, and why hit your head on the overhead?

*if someone in my row tells me they need to hurry, i certainly accommodate them to the extent i can. but if you don't say anything to me, i have no reason to believe you are.

+1. If someone is waiting in their aisle ready to go I will let them proceed before me. If there's room in front of me and no one waiting to move I will go forward providing I don't have to push by anyone or cut someone else off who is ready to go.

Rushing forward adds to the crowding in the rows ahead of you and makes it more difficult for people in those rows, who may not be as obsessed as you about getting up the instant they are allowed to, to get their bags down and arrange their belonging. I agree that it is rude and inconsiderate. If getting off early is that important to you, get a seat near the front of the cabin.

Bingo. When people surge forward it makes it that much harder or even impossible to get your bag out of the overhead in a timely fashion.

I am always in an aisle seat and have never had anyone "rush" past the my row to get in front. I wait until everyone in front of my row has gotten into the aisle before I step out and let the rest of my row out in front of me.

I have noticed some stay in their seats making it clear they will leave when the plane is empty so, of course, we all move past them.

I would feel it rude if people just flew out of their seat as soon as the seatbelt light went off to push ahead of everyone else. I am usually trying to catch a connection, so would LOVE to just push in front of everyone...but it is bad etiquette.

This is just my opinion. I am not a frequent flyer, so I will be watching to see if I have this all messed up...lol

You sound like a real winner. Do you feel better after making your snide comment?

This is a complete pet peeve of mine, for the reasons already described above. Follow school bus rules: let the people in rows ahead of you clear completely before you get off. Of course, if someone stays seated and tells you to go ahead, it's OK to go ahead.

It drives me nuts when I see people pushing past as people in rows in front of them are still trying to clear. This is one of the reasons I don't like sitting in the middle or window seat.

Yes in fact it did.

It takes rudeness to treat rude people. There was no reason for her to jump her way past my seat into the aisle. She wasn't going to de-plane any faster.
Maybe its a bit of karma that she still had to wait in line with her behavior to jump the line.

Ditto

People who try to sprint past me from behind are likely to run into my elbow.

Good grief, just wait for those in front to get out. :rolleyes: