In Airlines

I have always been flummoxed by this behavior.   After the aircraft lands and the Milli-second after the seat belt sign goes off, people get off their seats as if its an emergency evacuation.  They grab their luggage and stand uncomfortably in the aisle.

Everyone who stands in the aisle know that the doors don’t open for another 10 minutes. So why bother?

There’s no time advantage either.  At best, they save 2 minutes but that immediately gets evened out when they are made to wait in the transfer bus and even more so at the luggage carousel.

I’ve seen this habit mostly in India and wanted to figure out the reasons behind this behavior.  Here’s what I could come up with.

1) Wanting to stretch their legs after sitting for long.

2) Having a false sense of saving time.

3) Herd mentality. When you see others standing up, you do too so as not not lose any competitive edge.

But by far the best explanation I heard  is from a fellow passenger who traveled with me in yesterday’s flight. He’s a Mumbaikar who now stays in Bangkok.  He says its a habit that we have acquired from our days of traveling in Buses and Trains.

We usually get up from our seats much before our destination comes because we have to weave and squeeze our way through the standing crowd to edge closer to the exit door.  Its a mentality that has sunk deep into us. He says we involuntarily do that even in flights.

Its the strangest answer I heard but it makes good sense.

What do you think are the reasons?