Ask HN: Why do people always stand up way before the plane open its doors? - baby
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cbanek
I've always found the behavior of leaving planes (and just crowd control in
general) to be fascinating.

The normal way people leave planes seems to be from front to back, and each
one wants to go and get their stuff out of the overhead bin, basically
blocking everyone behind them.

What would be more efficient is if we went from aisle to window (in columns,
rather than rows), so that each aisle person could get out (the entirety from
front to back of the plane), get their luggage, then all walk off the plane.
Then you do the next column of people, closer to the window, and do the same.
In doing this, at least everyone would be grabbing their bags at the same
time, effectively pipelining the operation.

The only thing that doesn't surprise me is that people don't do the most
efficient thing. I also think it's hilarious how people tend to congregate at
junctions of hallways, and block them, which are where most of the traffic has
to go through, rather than getting out of the way (not even that much) to let
people get through. By being in the intersection of two hallways, you can
block more than one at once.

Maybe I should have gone into traffic flow engineering instead of CS...

~~~
wuunderbar
> What would be more efficient is if we went from aisle to window (in columns,
> rather than rows), so that each aisle person could get out (the entirety
> from front to back of the plane), get their luggage, then all walk off the
> plane. Then you do the next column of people, closer to the window, and do
> the same. In doing this, at least everyone would be grabbing their bags at
> the same time, effectively pipelining the operation. The only thing that
> doesn't surprise me is that people don't do the most efficient thing.

Yes this is fairly efficient (and the reverse is true of boarding airplanes),
however it's wholly unrealistic to expect or require people to do this as
there are a significant portion of travelers who sit in groups. You're not
going to convince a parent to deplane before their children simply because
they sat in the aisle seat.

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bsvalley
It’s a space problem. If I don’t take that space now someone else would within
the next second. Average human behavior. So why not act now? Oh... now i’m
standing up in a line of people very close to each other. I can smell them
even better and now I can’t even sit back because the person next to me took
my spot. No one can move and we all look ridiculous :)

Similar behavior can be obeserved in a traffic jam

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anonlastname
Because they're tired of sitting

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zapperdapper
You would have thought so, but many of the people who are the first to stand
up rarely get up and walk around during the flight. That's what I've observed
anyway, and one of my hobbies is looking out for such oddities... :)

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mmt
> the people who are the first to stand up rarely get up and walk around
> during the flight

If they didn't get up and walk around during the flight, wouldn't they be the
most tired of sitting and therefore the most motivated to stand up first?

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jobigoud
And somehow they were not tired of sitting half an hour prior, before start of
descent?

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mmt
Yes, they were not yet tired enough of sitting, at least not enough to stand
up for some small amount of time, only to have to sit back down again. This is
true for any part of the flight, not not just before the start of descent.

There are also any number of other reasons those individuals may not have been
motivated enough to stand during the flight itself, as a sibling comment
pointed out.

My point was that the original observation was not actually of anything odd
but, instead, of something consistent with this particular motivation.

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pwg
My guess:

They believe it gives them some kind of advantage in getting off the plane
sooner.

That if they stand up, get their luggage down from the overhead, and wait for
the door to open, that they somehow will get off the plane significantly
faster.

There may also be some amount of "follow the herd" mentality as well. That
seeing one (or a few) stand up, others think those standing individuals are
going to "get a jump on them" and they then themselves stand. Ultimately
leading to a majority of "stand and wait for door" individuals.

The reality is this is likely partially a "tragedy of the commons" situation.
If only a very few stood up, then yes, they would likely get off sooner than
the rest that remain seated (because they are "ready to go" the moment the
door opens). But if almost everyone stands (and seemingly almost everyone
does) then the ensuing jam to get down the aisle likely means everyone ends up
waiting longer overall.

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mistrQ
By being one of the first to stand up you are able to get your luggage faster
(if any), skip a few rows down the aisle, get out the plane faster, and
ultimately get to the immigration line before everyone else. When flying to
the US from the UK I would notice that this could sometimes save 1 hour+.

The end goal is to get out of the airport as fast as possible, not just the
plane. So the advantage is pretty significant.

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clay_the_ripper
I think a more interesting question is: why do so many people ask this
question? Whether you stand or don’t stand has no bearing on the speed of
deplaning. Since everyone stands, you can choose to stand or not stand. You
may as well stand since otherwise someone will stand where you would stand and
cut ahead of you. And you’ve been sitting for ages. Either way it makes no
difference. People who stand are not “slowing everyone down”, they are
rational actors. I think the premise of the question assumes that people who
stand are somehow acting irrationally, when they are not.

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ddingus
Time to stretch. It's been a long, cramped flight.

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some_account
This is why. And also you are ready to move when people start to move out. If
you don't stand up before, you will block everybody when you stand up while
they are trying to move out.

Sitting is the last thing you want when you have been sitting for many hours.

~~~
ddingus
Truth

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axaxs
I do this. It has nothing to do with an advantage. I'm just tired of sitting.

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the_arun
In addition to all the comments here. I think mentally, they feel getting up
early gives them competitive Advantage - by expressing the person getting up
behind (row) to know "you can go only after me". If this is true the folks in
last row, may not even stand up.

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kazinator
Why do people board before their row range is called, and then jam in the
isles to put away their shit (or access it again), getting in everyone's way
who is trying to get to a more rearward seat?

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superasn
This one I do know. Because sometimes all the overhead bins get filled and
then you are forced to keep your backpack under the seat which is not very
comfortable.

Happened to me once or twice because I was the last one to board. Not sure if
that's true for other countries though.

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rahimnathwani
"Because sometimes all the overhead bins get filled and then you are forced to
keep your backpack under the seat"

Overhead bins are for carry-on items that cannot fit under the seat in front
of you. If your backpack fits under the seat in front of you, but you put it
in the overhead bin, then _you_ are the reason the overhead bins are full.

~~~
superasn
Oh okay. Good to know, honestly did not know that is the policy and at least
in India all the overhead bins are filled with mostly backpacks and small
items only (but then we're a country of rule breakers so it doesn't come as a
surprise to me). It's mostly ladies handbags which I've seen people put under
seats only.

Regardless will remember this next time. Thanks.

~~~
foobarchu
That's fascinating to me. On domestic US flights, the overhead bins are almost
exclusively filled with roller-bag luggage, such that if a flight is actually
full the last people to board are guaranteed to have to 'valet check' anything
they have that doesn't fit under the seat (essentially it becomes a checked
bag, and you collect it at the destination). Usually the half hour prior to
flights will be filled with attendants making a call over the loudspeaker for
any volunteers to have their bags checked for free.

It's also the primary reason you see people rushing to get on board early,
they want that precious overhead bin space for their rollerbags.

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pjungwir
This really only started after 9/11 when airlines started charging for your
first checked bag. Before that most people brought smaller carry-ons and
checked more. (Why lug all your stuff around if you don't have to?) But now
lots of people are trying to fit everything into their carry-on to avoid fees,
so they fill up much faster and have wall-to-wall roller bags.

~~~
foobarchu
There's also a mistrust of airlines themselves at play. Many people refuse to
check their bags unless they absolutely have to, out of fear that their
luggage will be lost. It's never happened to me personally, but I've heard
enough stories from people who have experienced it to be fearful myself.

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jobigoud
I think it's a psychology trick, like when you have a really bad pee need and
it gets inexplicably a lot worse as you approach your house door.

The prospect of the end of the flight is getting into your mind and you want
to be done with it right now.

I'm always astonished at the number of people that unlock their seat belt as
soon as the plane lands, even though the "fasten your seat belt" sign is still
on for the entire taxi ride.

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sapphire_tomb
Because my ass is numb from sitting down so long.

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zapperdapper
I once met a guy on a train, who turned out to be a multi-millionaire, who
told me his investment strategy was based entirely around this very
phenomenon. I still keep in touch with him from time to time. Fascinating guy.

More personally it annoys the hell out of me and I avoid doing it. It's the
same of the train. I had a woman get very ratty with me the other day because
I didn't stand up just because everyone else did (she was window and I was
aisle). I wouldn't have minded but we were at least five minutes from arriving
in the station!

There are probably all sorts of studies on this but I suspect the main reasons
are 1) herd mentality 2) impatience. The levels of impatience I see on a daily
basis are truly scary.

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mgliwka
Maybe I'm missing the obvious, but would you mind to elaborate how this
strategy works?

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zapperdapper
The herd mentality is very much in evidence in the stock market. There's often
no logic to it. By standing apart from the herd and sometimes running in the
opposite direction you can often make a killing. Example : 2007 when the
market crashed. A lot of people panicked and sold because the market dropped
(because a lot of people were also selling).

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ngokevin
Similar behavior at baggage claims, people stand as close to the conveyor belt
as possible, blocking the view of people behind them. Then people behind try
to get closer, etc.

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hazza1
Why do some people only get their luggage down as they are leaving the plane
causing a delay to those who stood early and are prepared to leave?

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kazinator
Sometimes it's hard to reach, and nobody can move around easily.

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TylerH
Maybe we should replace seatbelts with roller coaster over the shoulder covers
or roll bars that drop down or something. They can be controlled by the
passenger except during takeoff and landing. Then they can be lifted/opened in
small groups or in some ordered fashion to help control disembarking.

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anoncoward111
I think it's human nature. Everyone wants to get out of the small tube that is
a plane, and get to their destination. They also want to be the first to get
their bags and beat the crowd.

It's true primate behavior, motivated by the release of adrenaline and stress
hormones even

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auxbuss
It might be cultural, but not "human nature" nor "primate behaviour".

If you travel on a plane where most of the passengers are from another
nation/culture, this standing behaviour can be completely absent. Japan come
to mind, though I've also experienced it in the Middle East and other Asian
countries.

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anoncoward111
But you have to admit, it's possible that these cultures have "learned" their
behavior, not been "born with it".

It's an innate human trait to burp and fart. Some cultures have place a
pressure on people to not do these things.

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tagh
Because I feel guilty if I make the person next to me wait.

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mabynogy
Cows and sheeps do the same when the doors of the truck are opened.

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rjkennedy98
And I thought the "Ask HN" about why to use elastic search instead of creating
your own search engine was a bad question...

~~~
acheron
“Ask HN: Why do we drive on parkways, but park on driveways?”

