iStockphoto
Anyone who flies frequently enough knows there’s no shortage of rude behaviors capable of riling up passengers on an airplane. Now, Turkey is cracking down on one of the most infuriating faux pas by threatening to fine people who try to jump the line to deboard after their flight has landed.
There was once a time when flying was viewed as a luxurious experience, but unless you’re able to afford to routinely splurge on the tickets that give you the right to sit on the right side of the curtain that separates The Poors from the people in first class, it’s hard to imagine you’d use that word to describe the typical flight.
There are plenty of sources of potential frustration that come with being trapped in the air with hundreds of strangers for hours on end, whether we’re talking about disputes stemming from a reclined seat, passengers who board with some foul-smelling food, and the far too many people who think it’s acceptable to take off your socks during a flight.
It’s easy to understand why most people would prefer to get off a plane as soon as possible after landing, but it’s much harder to understand why so many passengers insist on standing up and converging on the aisle as soon as the seatbelt sign flicks off once you arrive at the gate.
I’m sure many people who go that route would tell you they’re simply leaping at the opportunity to stretch their legs, but I’d argue a very sizeable percentage of traveers who roll out that excuse are using it as a flimsy cover story for their attempts to jockey for position in the hopes of jumping the line and complicating what should be a very straightforward exit procedure at the expense of everyone else on board.
According to The Washington Post, aviation officials in Turkey have decided to target that ploy with a new measure that’s meant to discourage passengers from making a mad dash for the exit with the help of fines that the most egregious offenders can be slapped with if they violate the rules.
The fines in question stem from a new edict issued by the Turkish Directorate General of Civil Aviation and can be applied to any passenger who stands up while the plane is still taxiing to the gate (violators will be forced to fork over around $67 if they fail to abide by the rules).
However, the outlet notes they could also be applied to flyers who fail to “respect the disembarkation priority of the passengers in front of or around” them, meaning people who attempt to get off the plane before passengers in the aisles ahead of them have departed can also be punished.
We’ll have to wait and see if it ends up having a positive impact, but I don’t need to see the results to suggest other countries shouldn’t waste a single second following suit.
Content shared from brobible.com.