Article: Airport Disease: Enter Airport, Exit Manners

[AFF Editor]

Canonical URL

https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/airport-disease/

Airport Disease: Enter Airport, Exit Manners is an article written by the AFF editorial team:

Airport Disease: Enter Airport, Exit Manners

There's something about airports that stresses a lot of people out... so much so, that they forget their manners. Frontline airline staff call it "airport disease".

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

You can leave a comment or discuss this topic below.

 

[Melburnian1]

It's linked to fewer people attending Mass or other religious observances., sadly.

However I have seen travellers justifiably upset at security staff who make silly decisions, such as occasionally removing empty water bottles for no supportable reason. Yes, they have a stressful job, and airports don't help by sometimes having insufficient 'lanes' for the volume of passengers at busier times.

 

[dajop]

It's linked to fewer people attending Mass or other religious observances., sadly.

Drawing a long bow there I think.

 

[flyingfan]

Some people are just jerks, no apology or placation will work and they’re best given a very wide berth.i suspect they’re the same driving, at the supermarket…

Airports can be dehumanising places even for frequent flyers and exacerbate the stress or anxiety of travelling and coping with crowds and noise. The staff dealing with thousands of pax daily can be worn down by sometimes at best gruff responses or ignoring greetings, so hats off to those who can still keep the cheer.

 

[Pushka]

I think I just get stressed and that might make me less patient. The airport is also a collection of humanity that you'd likely never come across on daily life. So it's out of the comfort zone. You might worry about delayed departures and connections, the thought of flying itself, and so many different interpretations of the security requirements. Take off your belt. Shoes. Watch and so on. People having no idea. Kids screaming and running around. Everything is so out of place from normal.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Some people are just jerks, no apology or placation will work and they’re best given a very wide berth.i suspect they’re the same driving, at the supermarket…

Airports can be dehumanising places even for frequent flyers and exacerbate the stress or anxiety of travelling and coping with crowds and noise. The staff dealing with thousands of pax daily can be worn down by sometimes at best gruff responses or ignoring greetings, so hats off to those who can still keep the cheer.

Some people are just jerks… yes… on both sides.

Even some of the calmest passengers are severely tired by airport staff.

I was waiting for a flight last week to MEL. Inbound plane arrives and all of a sudden the gate information switches from ‘Melbourne’ to ‘Adelaide’.

A couple pax picked up on this and asked the gate agent ‘what’s happened to Melbourne?’

The gate agent replied ‘we’re just disembarking this flight and then we’ll board Melbourne’

The passenger looked at the screen again, and said ‘but what’s happening to Melbourne?’

The gate agent looked back ‘I SAID … WHEN WE’VE FINISHED GETTING PASSENGERS OFF THIS FLIGHT… WE WILL BOARD MELBOURNE. WE WILL TELL YOU WHEN ITS TIME’.

Loud and slow.

Even when the gate agent finally realised what everyone else knew, that the flight must have changed, they didn't apologise.

 

[AuSammy]

Not really surprising but always jarring

A convergence place for the gambit of at one end of the spectrum - DYKWIA, also the dead tired from travel or getting up early for travel through to first time travellers totally out of their depth and in a real tizz, and the usual just plain rude people in everyday life.

Even frequent flyers get anxious - fingers crossed my bag isn't over the limit, how long the security queue will be, is my flight on time, did I read the gate lounge number right, where did I put my ticket, did I forget my charger/passport/whatever, I didn't take my belt off the last 7 times I went through here!!!

Don’t envy the staff there at all; 10,000s of travellers passing through, nearly all in a desperate hurry to get through the process even if their flight is not for 3 hrs and of course “these unnecessary rules shouldn't apply to me”.

 

[flyingfan]

Even when the gate agent finally realised what everyone else knew, that the flight must have changed, they didn't apologise.

Seems a case of when you can only do 10 things at a time and the 11th one hits, you regress to the basic lizard brain. Like talking to someone as though they’re a simpleton will help and you no longer have situational awareness. That agent probably went home and vented on a WhatsApp chat that some people are so <perjorative>.

(And I don’t think it’s as simple as ‘get another job if you can’t cope)

 

[Katie]

My Teen is currently working at the local airport (retaily/food service kind of job) and comes home with some appalling stories of how customers treat them at times!