I don’t want to pile on here but I fly almost exclusively Southwest, typically 5-15 times a year (pre-covid), and I also have never seen what you described in the OP, where people unbuckle and stand up while the plane is taxiing. So it’s a bit confusing and hard to address your question is all.
Now, as a traveler of moderate frequency, it absolutely drives me nuts that once the plan is stopped at the gate, people still bolt up and cram into the aisle, breathing down each others’ necks, even though it’s going to take them 5 minutes before the door opens and the flow of people starts moving. I don’t know if people have anxiety about being able to get their bags or what, but if I’ve learned anything it’s that people lose all intelligence while flying.
On a similar note, only on airplanes is the “do” form of verbs used in speech (“We do ask that you do remain seated until the plane does come to a full and complete stop”). Can you think of any other time people talk like that?
I don’t doubt that you’ve seen it, but your OP starts with:
Which suggests that you believe that this is the norm on U.S. flights. The rest of us are saying:
No, it’s not the norm on flights (as those who have replied have rarely, if ever, seen it)
It’s against FAA regulations to do so
In our experience (including the experience of an actual U.S. airline pilot), flight crews will scold people who do this, and tell them to get back in their seats
Very rarely did I see folks getting up during the taxi. Generally folks up during taxi were trying to sneak to the restroom although one fellow (going out of Denver, outbound from Denver) managed to piss off the flight attendant bad enough we went back to the gate and dropped him off.
It was usually on the ramp when it looked like we were at the gate that folks would hop up, as if crowding the aisle was going to get them off the airplane faster.
With DFW as my home airport I was generally riding on non-stops all the time and since I favored a window seat, I found it was more relaxing to just wait out the aisle crowders instead of trying to be the first off the airplane even if I was in the first few rows of coach.
However, the aisle crowders were most often folks trying to make a connection and worried about getting to their next flight. The distance between gates at DFW can be miles and if aren’t familiar with the airport or are running late on the inbound, there can be a lot of anxiety about making the connection. Folks are probably slowing down the deplaning process by crowding the aisle but there is no way to explain that to them.
I think it’s a combination of wanting to be first for the sake of being first as well as the sooner you board, the less people you have to trip over to get to your seat. I don’t mind sitting in the plane for an extra 10 minutes if it means I can easily get to my seat without waiting for 50 people to put their stuff in the bin, get situated and get out of the aisle, seemingly one at a time and I don’t have to climb over people that seem to feel it’s no biggie if they have their leg sticking out into the aisle, people that are trying to fight their way towards the front of the plane for one reason or another and so on. The fewer people already on the plane, the easier it is to get to your seat.
Also, add in the fact that many of these people have been sitting in the terminal for quite a while so they’re anxious to do something, anything, even if it’s moving to a cramped plane.
But really, I think it’s just that people want to be first. Taking a quick glance at boarding orders for various airlines, it appears most of them board in order of the price of the ticket. ie starting with first class and working their way down to economy.
I’m not familiar with your previous posts, but I’m pretty familiar with the SDMB, and I can guarantee you, nobody’s picking on you. We’re not asking for “a documented source with multiple eyewitnesses” re: your claim that people are getting up and opening overhead bins before the plane has reached the gate. We merely want details on when you’ve seen this, as a) nobody else who’s posted here has and b) it’s a violation of FAA regulations.
Please clarify for us so we can understand and respond accordingly. Your OP is stated as if you’ve witnessed people getting up before the plane reached the gate, yet when we asked for specifics, you offered that you’ve seen people use the lavs before take-off on Southwest flights, “so you can pretty much do anything you want on them.” Are you complaining about people using the lavatories before take-off, which leads you to believe anything goes on those flights, or are you claiming that people actually do stand in the aisle before the plane arrives at the gate? It really does matter.
I just stay in my seat, and when I see someone going for one next to mine, I say “Would you please hand me that green one?”. Chances are they have to move mine anyway to get to theirs.
In recent years, though, I’m considered handicapped, and I get on first and off last.
Because they are stupid. It takes around 5 minutes from arriving at the terminal before the door is opened. As for the mad stampede to get off the plane, it is pointless if you have to reclaim checked baggage. That usually takes 20-25 minutes from landing.
My pet peeve is the famous :“Federal law prohibits tampering with, disabling, or destroying any lavatory smoke detector.”
Why use three verbs in that sentence?
If you’ve disabled it or destroyed it, you’ve also tampered with it, dammit.
And not just a few people, but “pretty much everybody.”
My behavior depends on the flight I’m on. Arriving after a 3-hour domestic flight, I don’t mind staying seated until the aisle ahead of me has cleared out. Arriving after a 14-hour international flight, I stand up as soon as it’s allowed, because I’ve been sitting for 14 hours.
Also, i never check baggage if i can avoid it. When I’m off the plane, I’m out of there. But people deplane in order, and slowly, so standing up early is unlikely to change when you get off. I’m just standing to stretch.
(On why people want to board early)
One factor I can think of: The overhead bins are not large enough to store all the humongous suitcases people bring aboard as carry-on. So if you board early, you will find a spot for your carry-on; but if you board at the end there’s a good chance your suitcase will get shifted to the luggage area, which adds some inconvenience during the flight and a delay after landing while you wait for it to be retrieved from the trunk.
The only time I saw this behavior, it was a coworker of mine who was the culprit. We were flying back to Brussels from a job in Bulgaria. Charlie liked his booze and was tippling liberally on the flight. We touched down in Brussels, and as the plane was taxiing, Charlie gets up and starts trying to get his bag down. As fate would have it, the pilot had to hit his brakes at a runway crossing and Charlie went flying on his own. Karma can be a bitch.
It’s been awhile since I was on a commercial flight, but I haven’t seen many people stirring from their seats while the plane is still taxiing.
They (alright, sometimes we) do get up once the plane has stopped at the jetway but before the “all clear” signal comes. It’s sort of like starting to clap at a baseball game before the last notes of the Star-Spangled Banner have died away.
That rule exists for one reason only, and that is so the airline in question can cover its legal ass. Everyone knows that, once the airplane is taxiing to the gate, the need to remain belted in one’s seat is virtually zero.
Categorically not true. I’ve been on a number of flights where some idiot stands up while the plane is still taxiing only to have the plane stop suddenly and said idiot either tumbles over the seat or falls face first into the aisle, just like Chefguy described just a few posts earlier.
I guess the key words are, “number of flights”. You appear to be a frequent flyer while I, on the other hand, fly about once a year or, at the most, twice a year. I guess I haven’t been lucky enough to see the show. LOL