Why boarding takes longer than the flying time...

Hearing: Hanging by a moment - Lifehouse

Ive decided to start a list of Flying Tips for passengers. A sort of what not to do when you get onboard and what you should do. I'll keep adding as i come across them while flying and post updates when i add to this list.

Last night i had a short turnaround. On the return sector the flight time was 40mins and it was full. One father was separated from his family and asked if he could sit next to them, i told him the flight was full but would see once everyone was onboard if i could swap him. But he asked me again even though he could see we were still boarding, and i gave him a "be patient" reply. Now everyone seated next to his wife was travelling together and they weren't likely to split (why should they?) so i went back and apologised - but come on, its only 40mins! We'll barely take off before we start landing again.

There was a bunch of individuals who also seemed to want to sit wherever they liked which didn't help since we had to go up and ask where they were really sitting ask them to move thereby slowing the process of boarding and of course taking off later. And in case your wondering why we don't just seat the other person where your seat is, its because if we had to do that to everyone it would take forever. One couple did just that, took seats that weren't theirs and kept having to move, in the end i told them off in front of everyone explaining that it delayed boarding was inconsiderate and unfair and they should not do it without asking the crew. If the flight isn't full thats a different story but even then you need to wait till boarding is done.

The thing is if you have a particular seat you want or you want to sit with your family - check in early. The "i told the check in staff i wanted __ but they didn't give it to me", or "they said i could change on board" excuses don't work. Ive seen it a hundred times. A family checks in late and are given separate seats, they board late and then argue with crew and the cabin manager wanting to sit together disrupting other passengers and again delaying the flight.

So with that in mind the first VP rules of flying are now online.

VP