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!

 

[elanshin]

generally speaking everything is about routine and familiarity. The more comfortable you are with what you're doing, the more you can feel less stress about the situation. Airports however generally speaking are the opposite of that for most people.

FF may find their home airport just as routine or normal (I'm sure many of us here can navigate SYD/MEL terminals half asleep or know which coffee shops to hit). But even for FF when we travel to new unfamiliar airports it can be daunting. Like I was unexpectedly dropped into DOH the other day. Without knowing how it's laid out, I have no real sense of how long it'll take me to get to my gate area, where the shopping / lounges / facilities all are. Contrast that with Changi - having gone up and down back and forth (thanks stamp rallies), I have a very strong sense of familiarity with where just about everything is at Changi.

These kinds of things adds up especially when things go wrong, even the little things in life.As for the staff working at the airport, they are probably copping this everyday and theres only so much social battery you have everyday before you need to recharge.

 

[Big John]

The airports themselves don't help the situation.

Many airports lack a simple sign telling me whether i) my laptop should be in or out of the bag, ii) my shoes need to be on or off, iii) families have to go through together or can split up to take shorter lines etc.

Knowing what to expect would greatly ease the anxiety !

 

[Forg]

The airports themselves don't help the situation.

Many airports lack a simple sign telling me whether i) my laptop should be in or out of the bag, ii) my shoes need to be on or off, iii) families have to go through together or can split up to take shorter lines etc.

Knowing what to expect would greatly ease the anxiety !

But that would remove one of the staff’s most important sources of enjoyment; telling people to go to the end of the line and do it right the next time.

I try to be super friendly & thankful to the staff at all times. I figure if they’re not ****s they’ll appreciate it, if they’re are ****s it’ll just make them suffer that bit more … like thanking people with a friendly wave in traffic.

 

[foften]

We fell foul of Sydney’s curfew and Virgin initially tried to refuse to pay for overnight accomodation and transport. Once they realised this really wasn’t acceptable to the crowd they opened up a check-in area so we could get rebooked and accomodation sorted. I made a point of saying to the person helping us to rebook that I wasn’t happy with Virgin but I was very grateful she was staying behind to help us. She upgraded us to economy X seats for the flight to Melbourne the next day. I wasn’t angling for an upgrade I can just separate the company causing the issue from the poor person left to try and pickup the pieces.

 

[BCons]

Security (and Aust domestic security) is always the worst place - if you are a FF then you expect a bunfight there and you're usually right! Why?

Because staff cant manage barriers properly (resulting in the famous 100m of left/right slalom course to join the Q)
Aust domestic security rarely ever tell you what to do - belt off and into bag, or belt in hand thru the scanner (looking at you Melb T3 dom last week..), ipad in or out. Whatever it is, Just tell u and we'll comply.. But dont ever take my nice jacket that I've folded carefully and place separately in the tray and just bung it under my carry on bag!