A video showing a man standing in the middle of an aisle on a plane and blocking passengers on the back half of a Delta flight from deboarding before the front half is drawing varied reactions online.
In many cases, as soon as a plane lands, parks at its gate, and the seatbelt light goes off, passengers from almost every row stand up, unload their carry-on baggage, and stand in the aisleway waiting to deboard regardless of where they’re seated on a flight.
Flight attendants typically tell passengers to wait for people in rows in front of them to exit before they deboard, allowing for a smooth row-by-row deplaning process that starts at the front of a plane. Only passengers with connecting flights are given exceptions to deboard first.
A clip posted to TikTok shows one man appearing to do his part to ensure the deboarding process on a Delta flight that landed in Detroit happens smoothly and correctly. However, some passengers didn’t take kindly to the behavior.
The video shows the man in a beige sweater positioned in the middle of an aisle as several people wait behind him.
Viewers can also see several feet of empty space in the walkway ahead of him and some passengers toward the front of the plane waiting to deboard.
After a flight attendant is heard on the intercom making an announcement asking for people to let passengers with connecting flights through, the woman recording the video requests the man to let people behind him pass by.
“Do you have a connection you need to make?” the man asked.
One woman yells, “Yes!” The person recording the video states, “We do actually. It’s a lot of people that would like to get by … this is weird.”
“Maybe he sees you bullying everyone,” she adds.
“What’s weird about it?” the man asks.
“We said ‘excuse me.’ Everyone’s saying ‘excuse me.’ You just won’t move out the aisle,” the woman responds.
“They all have to wait their turn then,” the man states.
The woman also begins repeatedly telling the man she has a connecting flight, but the man won’t budge and allow her to pass.
Finally, a flight attendant makes his way through the crowded back half of the plane to where the man is standing and surveys the plane. At that point, a woman stands up next to the man to also block the aisle.
“Is there an issue with them passing?” the flight attendant asks the aisle-blocking woman.
The woman’s response was unintelligible, but viewers can hear the attendant respond, “That’s not your concern.”
He orders the man and woman to step out of the aisle then tells the passengers they can make their way through.
Some viewers sided with the man’s resolve to follow appropriate plane etiquette.
“He is correct. You go row by row,” one person said.
“This is the way it should be. No need to get up unless it’s your turn. Good job dude,” another person added.
Others thought he could have let up a bit on his rigid behavior.
“If only some ppl are getting off to meet a connecting flight and that guy isn’t letting them pass he is in the wrong,” another person said.
“Who gives him the authority to block the aisle smh,” another person said.
A YouGov poll from 2023 surveyed more than 1,100 people about airplane etiquette. About 65% of survey respondents found it unacceptable to exit the plane before the people in front of them. Roughly 50% disapproved of standing up immediately when a plan lands.
