Scott K
Member
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2017
- Posts
- 266
Prior to a recent flight I witness something happening before boarding that I've never seen before
I had a flight across the Tasman Sea toMiddle Earth New Zealand. It was an 11:15pm flight departing from Melbourne, and it looked like it was going to be a pretty full flight loaded with tired kiwis and others. At check-in the fatigued woman behind the counter told the Ms and I, that I had an on the isle of the A330, while she was going to have the window. After passing through Immigration we looked at our boarding passes and saw this to be true, but we were going to be 3 rows away from each other. This was annoying as the two Americans that were in the queue behind us were seated together in a seat that would eventually be behind me. Their waffling tested the strength of my noise-cancelling headphones the entire flight.
Mmmmm now I want to cook waffles.
The Ms reassured me this would be fine, but it wasn't. She got seated next to a backpacker that hadn't washed in a few days and smelled like a festering fish, while I got a cranky Hong Konger that by the end of the flight I had an urge to beat with Qantas's on-board entertainment iPad. I didn't though. So don't worry the marshal didn't shoot me.
Before we got onto the plane however, we sat down in seating near our gate:- 11 in MEL T2. The flight was delayed slightly, so the wait was marginally longer than everyone's patience - which sadly seems to extend no greater than 5 minutes. I was in no rush and didn't care too much about being late personally, so I just flicked up a book on my phone, and occasionally glanced at the goings-on around me.
Around the expected boarding time something weird happened. I watched a small group of people move towards the gate, even though the sash was still across it. They stood there for a few minutes and a few other people got up and lined up behind them. The group by the gate started to look around the room and became quite noisy, which grabbed everyone else's attention. You could hear most of the passenger around the room shuffling their plastic bags and other bits in preparation for boarding in that moment of excitement when you can tell everyone knows something is about to happen. Nothing unusual at this point, as it is pretty normal to see impatient plane-stormers with excessive carry-on eager to shove theirgarbage luggage into over-head lockers first rush to the queue.
I'm guessing some of these guys didn't pay attention to the delay announcement, or something to that effect, as the slowly growing group started to became impatient. Some of passengers that had jumped in line behind the group broke off and walked back across the room. As they did the noisy initial group watched them and then noticed they were heading in the direction of a lift located at the opposite end of the waiting area.
The group bolted in a colourful array of wobbly suitcases and plastic bags, breathlessly exasperated that someone had found a route to Gate 11 ahead of them. The whole spectacle was amusing. They staked out a spot ahead of the break-away group that they had ran to get ahead of, then started punching at the lift control panel. But the other group weren't going there, rather they moved to the near-by bar. This seemed illogical for people that had been eager to get onto the plane moments before.
But this wasn't the end of it. Others joined the group at the lift. Soon parents with tired children snatched their half asleep kids up from their seats and made a rush towards the lift. I watched people that had taken up in pole position in the seats next to the gate-sash go into a panic, and then lurch with speed across the room. Within minutes 80% of the passengers for the flight had shuffled into a newly formed queue waiting access to the lift. I wasn't even sure if the lift went to gate 11 or the lounges upstairs.
By now I had put my book away just to watch with amusement at the frantic line of travellers that had poised in-front of the lift. They were going no where, and were grumbling impatiently about the line not moving. A Qantas staffer cheerfully bolted from behind a desk near-by and ran to sort out the 100+ people surge, moving along the line to assure people that the plane was not yet boarding and would be at the usual gate. A few argued the point a little - seemingly unconvinced that this wasn't the queue for the gate, but slowly the surge broke off. Some even requested the staffer that they be allowed through the gate early - disappointed they were now possibly going to lose their place in the non-queue.
It took longer for the room to get back to rest after the surge to the lift than it took to make the queue, and as everyone grumbled they failed to notice the opening of the actual gate. When they finally twigged, most of the room moved quickly towards the gate. the Ms and I continued to stay seated just waited until much of the queue were down the travellator before heading their ourselves. I probably would have waited longer if had known we had a date with Fish-man and Grumpy HK.
I had a flight across the Tasman Sea to
Mmmmm now I want to cook waffles.
The Ms reassured me this would be fine, but it wasn't. She got seated next to a backpacker that hadn't washed in a few days and smelled like a festering fish, while I got a cranky Hong Konger that by the end of the flight I had an urge to beat with Qantas's on-board entertainment iPad. I didn't though. So don't worry the marshal didn't shoot me.
Before we got onto the plane however, we sat down in seating near our gate:- 11 in MEL T2. The flight was delayed slightly, so the wait was marginally longer than everyone's patience - which sadly seems to extend no greater than 5 minutes. I was in no rush and didn't care too much about being late personally, so I just flicked up a book on my phone, and occasionally glanced at the goings-on around me.
Around the expected boarding time something weird happened. I watched a small group of people move towards the gate, even though the sash was still across it. They stood there for a few minutes and a few other people got up and lined up behind them. The group by the gate started to look around the room and became quite noisy, which grabbed everyone else's attention. You could hear most of the passenger around the room shuffling their plastic bags and other bits in preparation for boarding in that moment of excitement when you can tell everyone knows something is about to happen. Nothing unusual at this point, as it is pretty normal to see impatient plane-stormers with excessive carry-on eager to shove their
I'm guessing some of these guys didn't pay attention to the delay announcement, or something to that effect, as the slowly growing group started to became impatient. Some of passengers that had jumped in line behind the group broke off and walked back across the room. As they did the noisy initial group watched them and then noticed they were heading in the direction of a lift located at the opposite end of the waiting area.
The group bolted in a colourful array of wobbly suitcases and plastic bags, breathlessly exasperated that someone had found a route to Gate 11 ahead of them. The whole spectacle was amusing. They staked out a spot ahead of the break-away group that they had ran to get ahead of, then started punching at the lift control panel. But the other group weren't going there, rather they moved to the near-by bar. This seemed illogical for people that had been eager to get onto the plane moments before.
But this wasn't the end of it. Others joined the group at the lift. Soon parents with tired children snatched their half asleep kids up from their seats and made a rush towards the lift. I watched people that had taken up in pole position in the seats next to the gate-sash go into a panic, and then lurch with speed across the room. Within minutes 80% of the passengers for the flight had shuffled into a newly formed queue waiting access to the lift. I wasn't even sure if the lift went to gate 11 or the lounges upstairs.
By now I had put my book away just to watch with amusement at the frantic line of travellers that had poised in-front of the lift. They were going no where, and were grumbling impatiently about the line not moving. A Qantas staffer cheerfully bolted from behind a desk near-by and ran to sort out the 100+ people surge, moving along the line to assure people that the plane was not yet boarding and would be at the usual gate. A few argued the point a little - seemingly unconvinced that this wasn't the queue for the gate, but slowly the surge broke off. Some even requested the staffer that they be allowed through the gate early - disappointed they were now possibly going to lose their place in the non-queue.
It took longer for the room to get back to rest after the surge to the lift than it took to make the queue, and as everyone grumbled they failed to notice the opening of the actual gate. When they finally twigged, most of the room moved quickly towards the gate. the Ms and I continued to stay seated just waited until much of the queue were down the travellator before heading their ourselves. I probably would have waited longer if had known we had a date with Fish-man and Grumpy HK.
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