Ask HN: Why do people always stand up way before the plane open its doors? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Why do people always stand up way before the plane open its doors?

28 pointsbaby51 comments

I've always found the behavior of leaving planes (and just crowd control in general) to be fascinating.

The normal way people leave planes seems to be from front to back, and each one wants to go and get their stuff out of the overhead bin, basically blocking everyone behind them.

What would be more efficient is if we went from aisle to window (in columns, rather than rows), so that each aisle person could get out (the entirety from front to back of the plane), get their luggage, then all walk off the plane. Then you do the next column of people, closer to the window, and do the same. In doing this, at least everyone would be grabbing their bags at the same time, effectively pipelining the operation.

The only thing that doesn't surprise me is that people don't do the most efficient thing. I also think it's hilarious how people tend to congregate at junctions of hallways, and block them, which are where most of the traffic has to go through, rather than getting out of the way (not even that much) to let people get through. By being in the intersection of two hallways, you can block more than one at once.

Maybe I should have gone into traffic flow engineering instead of CS...

> What would be more efficient is if we went from aisle to window (in columns, rather than rows), so that each aisle person could get out (the entirety from front to back of the plane), get their luggage, then all walk off the plane. Then you do the next column of people, closer to the window, and do the same. In doing this, at least everyone would be grabbing their bags at the same time, effectively pipelining the operation. The only thing that doesn't surprise me is that people don't do the most efficient thing.

Yes this is fairly efficient (and the reverse is true of boarding airplanes), however it's wholly unrealistic to expect or require people to do this as there are a significant portion of travelers who sit in groups. You're not going to convince a parent to deplane before their children simply because they sat in the aisle seat.

Aisle-to-window wouldn't work because you'd get lots of the aisle people now clogging the airplane exit passage as they wait for their friends and family to come out.

People traveling as a group sit next to each other. Exiting by column absolutely guarantees that people in the same group will exit at different times, which means they have to wait for the entire airplane to deplane anyway in order to put their group back together.

Exiting by column really only helps solo travelers.

It’s a space problem. If I don’t take that space now someone else would within the next second. Average human behavior. So why not act now? Oh... now i’m standing up in a line of people very close to each other. I can smell them even better and now I can’t even sit back because the person next to me took my spot. No one can move and we all look ridiculous :)

Similar behavior can be obeserved in a traffic jam

Because they're tired of sitting

You would have thought so, but many of the people who are the first to stand up rarely get up and walk around during the flight. That's what I've observed anyway, and one of my hobbies is looking out for such oddities... :)

> the people who are the first to stand up rarely get up and walk around during the flight

If they didn't get up and walk around during the flight, wouldn't they be the most tired of sitting and therefore the most motivated to stand up first?

And somehow they were not tired of sitting half an hour prior, before start of descent?

It's generally too cramped to do that politely, especially if you don't have an aisle seat, they're in the middle of food and drinks, or there is a line for the bathroom. If the plane is large enough to have areas where you can stand without getting in someone else's space, the flight attendants don't let you mill about for long.

Yes, they were not yet tired enough of sitting, at least not enough to stand up for some small amount of time, only to have to sit back down again. This is true for any part of the flight, not not just before the start of descent.

There are also any number of other reasons those individuals may not have been motivated enough to stand during the flight itself, as a sibling comment pointed out.

My point was that the original observation was not actually of anything odd but, instead, of something consistent with this particular motivation.

My guess:

They believe it gives them some kind of advantage in getting off the plane sooner.

That if they stand up, get their luggage down from the overhead, and wait for the door to open, that they somehow will get off the plane significantly faster.

There may also be some amount of "follow the herd" mentality as well. That seeing one (or a few) stand up, others think those standing individuals are going to "get a jump on them" and they then themselves stand. Ultimately leading to a majority of "stand and wait for door" individuals.

The reality is this is likely partially a "tragedy of the commons" situation. If only a very few stood up, then yes, they would likely get off sooner than the rest that remain seated (because they are "ready to go" the moment the door opens). But if almost everyone stands (and seemingly almost everyone does) then the ensuing jam to get down the aisle likely means everyone ends up waiting longer overall.

By being one of the first to stand up you are able to get your luggage faster (if any), skip a few rows down the aisle, get out the plane faster, and ultimately get to the immigration line before everyone else. When flying to the US from the UK I would notice that this could sometimes save 1 hour+.

The end goal is to get out of the airport as fast as possible, not just the plane. So the advantage is pretty significant.

The advantage is real. If you don't claim your space in the isle, you will likely be overtaken by more than one person.

Also, by standing up late, when everyone is already moving, you will be hindering everyone by only getting your overhead luggage then. Of course nobody will want to let you ahead of them, because they know you just want a space to stand so you fiddle with the overhead bin for a while.

I think a more interesting question is: why do so many people ask this question? Whether you stand or don’t stand has no bearing on the speed of deplaning. Since everyone stands, you can choose to stand or not stand. You may as well stand since otherwise someone will stand where you would stand and cut ahead of you. And you’ve been sitting for ages. Either way it makes no difference. People who stand are not “slowing everyone down”, they are rational actors. I think the premise of the question assumes that people who stand are somehow acting irrationally, when they are not.

Time to stretch. It's been a long, cramped flight.

This is why. And also you are ready to move when people start to move out. If you don't stand up before, you will block everybody when you stand up while they are trying to move out.

Sitting is the last thing you want when you have been sitting for many hours.

Truth

You could have stretched at any point before descent… Also it's a long flight, certainly you can sustain five more minutes.

Yeah, could have, sometimes do.

Still, a good stretch is my reason number one for standing at end of flight.

I do this. It has nothing to do with an advantage. I'm just tired of sitting.

In addition to all the comments here. I think mentally, they feel getting up early gives them competitive Advantage - by expressing the person getting up behind (row) to know "you can go only after me". If this is true the folks in last row, may not even stand up.

Why do people board before their row range is called, and then jam in the isles to put away their shit (or access it again), getting in everyone's way who is trying to get to a more rearward seat?

I don't understand why people (with allocated seats) are in a rush to board - less time in that little seat the better, for me.

To have room for their baggage in the compartment above them, rather than wherever there is space for it, possibly ten rows behind?

I'd rather spend the time sitting down and putting my kindle, etc. into the little storage bag on the seat in front of me, rather than standing in line and holding my bag.

This one I do know. Because sometimes all the overhead bins get filled and then you are forced to keep your backpack under the seat which is not very comfortable.

Happened to me once or twice because I was the last one to board. Not sure if that's true for other countries though.

"Because sometimes all the overhead bins get filled and then you are forced to keep your backpack under the seat"

Overhead bins are for carry-on items that cannot fit under the seat in front of you. If your backpack fits under the seat in front of you, but you put it in the overhead bin, then you are the reason the overhead bins are full.

Oh okay. Good to know, honestly did not know that is the policy and at least in India all the overhead bins are filled with mostly backpacks and small items only (but then we're a country of rule breakers so it doesn't come as a surprise to me). It's mostly ladies handbags which I've seen people put under seats only.

Regardless will remember this next time. Thanks.

Sorry! 90% of my long-haul flights have been with US/European airlines, which all have similar rules and announcements. The last time I flew Air India was many years ago, and I have no idea what their policy and in-flight instructions are like.

Most people flying economy class on long-haul flights are allowed to bring on board one carry-on (e.g. small rolling suitcase) one personal item (e.g. handbag or laptop backpack) and a coat. The personal item should fit under the seat in front of you.

An example from United: https://www.united.com/CMS/en-US/travel/Pages/BaggageCarry-O...

"The maximum dimensions for your personal item that fits under the seat in front of you..."

But apparently Air India doesn't allow any bag as a 'personal item' UNLESS it's a lady's hand bag:

http://www.airindia.in/hand-luggage.htm

That's fascinating to me. On domestic US flights, the overhead bins are almost exclusively filled with roller-bag luggage, such that if a flight is actually full the last people to board are guaranteed to have to 'valet check' anything they have that doesn't fit under the seat (essentially it becomes a checked bag, and you collect it at the destination). Usually the half hour prior to flights will be filled with attendants making a call over the loudspeaker for any volunteers to have their bags checked for free.

It's also the primary reason you see people rushing to get on board early, they want that precious overhead bin space for their rollerbags.

This really only started after 9/11 when airlines started charging for your first checked bag. Before that most people brought smaller carry-ons and checked more. (Why lug all your stuff around if you don't have to?) But now lots of people are trying to fit everything into their carry-on to avoid fees, so they fill up much faster and have wall-to-wall roller bags.

There's also a mistrust of airlines themselves at play. Many people refuse to check their bags unless they absolutely have to, out of fear that their luggage will be lost. It's never happened to me personally, but I've heard enough stories from people who have experienced it to be fearful myself.

If instead of bringing 1 roller bag and 1 backpack, I bring 1 backpack, why shouldn't I be able to out my backpack in the overhead? I'm still only taken up 1 bags worth of space, and in fact less. If my reward for travelling lighter is to have to put my bag under the chair and therefore have an unreasonably cramped seating area, what's the point? I'll just bring a roller bag, and have only a laptop in my backpack and now you're just as badly off.

Yes, totally reasonable. You are not alone: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/southwest-airlines-rapid-rew...

Still not a reason for a row 19 person to board when rows 45-50 are called.

I think it's a psychology trick, like when you have a really bad pee need and it gets inexplicably a lot worse as you approach your house door.

The prospect of the end of the flight is getting into your mind and you want to be done with it right now.

I'm always astonished at the number of people that unlock their seat belt as soon as the plane lands, even though the "fasten your seat belt" sign is still on for the entire taxi ride.

Because my ass is numb from sitting down so long.

I once met a guy on a train, who turned out to be a multi-millionaire, who told me his investment strategy was based entirely around this very phenomenon. I still keep in touch with him from time to time. Fascinating guy.

More personally it annoys the hell out of me and I avoid doing it. It's the same of the train. I had a woman get very ratty with me the other day because I didn't stand up just because everyone else did (she was window and I was aisle). I wouldn't have minded but we were at least five minutes from arriving in the station!

There are probably all sorts of studies on this but I suspect the main reasons are 1) herd mentality 2) impatience. The levels of impatience I see on a daily basis are truly scary.

Maybe I'm missing the obvious, but would you mind to elaborate how this strategy works?

The herd mentality is very much in evidence in the stock market. There's often no logic to it. By standing apart from the herd and sometimes running in the opposite direction you can often make a killing. Example : 2007 when the market crashed. A lot of people panicked and sold because the market dropped (because a lot of people were also selling).

Similar behavior at baggage claims, people stand as close to the conveyor belt as possible, blocking the view of people behind them. Then people behind try to get closer, etc.

Why do some people only get their luggage down as they are leaving the plane causing a delay to those who stood early and are prepared to leave?

Sometimes it's hard to reach, and nobody can move around easily.

Maybe we should replace seatbelts with roller coaster over the shoulder covers or roll bars that drop down or something. They can be controlled by the passenger except during takeoff and landing. Then they can be lifted/opened in small groups or in some ordered fashion to help control disembarking.

I think it's human nature. Everyone wants to get out of the small tube that is a plane, and get to their destination. They also want to be the first to get their bags and beat the crowd.

It's true primate behavior, motivated by the release of adrenaline and stress hormones even

It might be cultural, but not "human nature" nor "primate behaviour".

If you travel on a plane where most of the passengers are from another nation/culture, this standing behaviour can be completely absent. Japan come to mind, though I've also experienced it in the Middle East and other Asian countries.

But you have to admit, it's possible that these cultures have "learned" their behavior, not been "born with it".

It's an innate human trait to burp and fart. Some cultures have place a pressure on people to not do these things.

Because I feel guilty if I make the person next to me wait.

Cows and sheeps do the same when the doors of the truck are opened.

And I thought the "Ask HN" about why to use elastic search instead of creating your own search engine was a bad question...

“Ask HN: Why do we drive on parkways, but park on driveways?”

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