lincolnjkc

With the proviso that I'm generally a fast walker and my wife refers to me in airports as being in "airport mode" where I have the unfortunate tendency to (start to) leave her behind until she reminds me that not everyone walks as fast...

I've never thought about it but I agree and will pass with impunity on disembarkation... especially when it's a tight connection and an ablebodied idiot is meandering with their rollaboard. I may politely throw out an excuse me/pardon me but will stop short of physical contact.

On boarding, OTOH, my view is the plane is going to leave (and, god willing, arrive) at the same time regardless and maintain a respectful distance (e.g. not tailgating or intimidating) behind the less swift. With some frequency at the aircraft door there will be a "please go ahead" while the stroller is situated or wheel chair is fangled but if that's not offered I'm, personally, not passing.

I do wonder about what actually played out -- we all view tings through our own lense and disinterested fly on the wall may have reported it in a less offensive manner than a first party participant... or maybe not.

ContinentalFan

I have exactly the same condition/disease/syndrome: it’s been called various things by different people. In my (our) defense, I go to the airport with a single purpose: to leave the airport.

Repooc17

Yepper.

Most of my flights are O/D. I'd get to the airport as late as I can, and once flight arrives, I am dashing for my final destination. No lounges, no retail, just flying.

bmwe92fan

So glad to know there are others -- lincolnjkc I get the same treatment from my wife / colleagues when we travel together - although my wife doesn't call it "Airport Mode" - it's something less pleasant...

fumje

Hah! Great terminology. I'm feeling seen. I think it extends beyond airports for me. That's all I wish to say.

IMissThe747

I thought it was just me... Mrs. IMissthe747 considers my airport walk and my insistence on using my 1K pre-boarding benefit as DYKWIA behavior.... I consider it efficiency and decreasing the chances of having to have an unpleasant (for them) conversation with somebody who found their way into my seat before I got there.

We agree on lots of big stuff like how to raise kids, ways to live a meaningful life and maintain a decent marriage, and we both love to travel... but going through an airport and boarding a plane together is full of conflict and misery for both of us...

thebakaronis

I'm shameless about passing people because I'm naturally a fast walker (I practically jog). I can't stand those who walk slowly right in the middle of the jetway or the concourse. Or couples and families who walk together and block the entire space.

The interesting thing I've noticed is that North Americans have wider walking stances in general, perhaps because we're used to having lots of space around us, and we end up using a lot more space than the breadth of our frame necessitates. So it's a lot of "excuse me"s muttered under my breath as I squeeze past the fat snails in front of me. If they think I'm rude, so be it. I think they're terribly rude for blocking everyone else.

hch

Can't agree more. I'm a naturally fast walker, and people pointlessly blocking me actually tends to stress me a little despite otherwise being relaxed. Not just at airport, I also can't grasp how people tend to block entire sidewalks while proceeding at a snail's pace 2, 3 or four wide. At airports I hate it how people with their giant rollaboards seem to always walk off the jetway in a checker pattern to make sure no one can pass them.

lincolnjkc

You and I likely have similar paces, though I swear I move even faster in airports. My rule of thumb is you generally get one "Excuse me" one "Pardon me" and then I'm coming through one way or the other (DWKWIA, perhaps, but...) -- when I carried a messenger-style laptop bag on a tight connection I would use it as an ice breaker -- the bow of a ship if you will -- to help wedge through on tight connections.

In addition....

Yes, or the family of four or five, walking shoulder-to-rollaboard-to-shoulder at a pace that would make a snail look like a marathon runner, unaware or indifferent to the fact that they are selfishly consuming the entirety of the available width and other people may be trying to move and have a speed measured faster than inches per month.

Close second to the "staggered jetway snail" are the couples who position themselves on either side of a moving sidewalk, facing each other, with the bags between them carrying on a conversation and thumbing their nose at the "Walk Left/Stand Right" convention...

And don't get me started on the people who abruptly stop in the middle of a walkway... would you do that in the middle of the road while driving? (The exit from TSA on the B concourse at ORD triggers me in just about all of these ways and I swear I feel my blood pressure going up each time I have to pass through that portion of the the terminal, e.g. going from C to E/F or vice versa)

lhrsfo

I also am accused of going into Airport Mode. It’s not a term of affection.

bitterproffit

I am a slow walker. I am tall (6'3") with really short legs. I lumber through airports. I can hot foot it if I need to. But why?

If I am in the airport I am either going on a leisure trip or returning from a leisure trip. The key word being 'leisure'.

I remind myself that the biggest luxury is time. I will get there with tons of time to spare. If all the people rushing around frantically start to mar the vibe, I'll just pop in my ear buds and put on some good vibes music.

I arrived at IAD from Madrid on Thursday. Everyone rushed off the plane to get to customs only to find out we all had to get in a moon buggy. The last people on were the first people off. So the people that rushed and passed ended up at the end of the line again. Oh well.

I kept to the right so they could get by and then I passed them all when I went through Global Entry. I saw many of them at the baggage carousel where we waited together.

I had a long layover and I knew the Polaris Club had a Manhattan just waiting for me, so that quickened my step slightly in anticipation. But this hurry up and wait stuff is for the birds. Relax. Its just an airport.

So, to answer the question, my "Airport Mode" is just a slightly chiller version than my normal mode. I even have playlists for different airports.

bmwe92fan

No it's not -- my (Japanese) wife just doesn't get it -- she is used to things working properly and orderly -- and when we are home in Japan I do admit to being slightly less aggressive, but not much.... My wife calls it DH mode -- I'll let you all figure out what that stands for....

Growing up in Japan she has this expectation that everything will work out properly as it should. For example, we flew back from Tokyo to NYC last night and I absolutely insisted that we get to the gate a few minutes before boarding since we had seats 1D/F and the plane was a 789 -- meaning that our overhead bins didn't exist - and for some reason I don't like our bags being far away from us (probably because I have to get her junk out of them so much during flight). I tried to explain in the NRT UA lounge why we had to leave "so early" -- ugh....

As I (used to) tell my wife -- "If you aren't willing to be early you will be late". As someone that grew up in NYC I understand all of comments about trying to get through / around clueless people -- it's a daily frustration here in the city....

gaobest

My airport mode is to arrive at the airport early enough so that any IRROPS (eg long lines in tsa pre; issues with curbside / luggage checkin; long distances) etc don’t affect us. I want us to have time for potty & food after tsa. Then I’m the one dealing with overhead carryon esp if we’re row 1 which has limits for Carry-on because I enjoy having zero seat before me.
I only tend to hold to our airport schedule when we fly - ie the wake-up and timely departure. Every other day I say nothing about needing to exit the house because my wife doesn’t like being rushed. I have a slight time strictness for our son’s sports match schedule.

Repooc17

People I travel with are often stressed out about traveling The goal is to spend the least amount of time at airports.

Put it another way, if I am not by curb within 10 minutes from deplaning upon arrival, something has gone wrong. This includes both domestic and US international arrivals.

Guards at multiple US international arrivals have asked me in the past if I had picked up checked luggage

Davvidd

I know what I am looking for in an airport and how to get it done. But one thing I hate is people who do not walk straight but amble along and no one could pass them. Then you have people who get off the travellators or escalators and just stop as soon as they get off it. They never think of moving away and that there might other passengers coming up behind him.