Save a few seconds, lose a few hours? That was the case for passengers onboard an American Airlines flight who battled it out over who would leave the aircraft first.
A Post-Flight Fight On American Airlines Over Who Can Exit The Aircraft First
The incident took place at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) onboard a packed Boeing 737. In the video below, two female passengers can be seen punching one another as spectators look on.
Update: almost missed my connecting flight with @AmericanAir in Phoenix because two girls decided to fist fight over who was getting off the plane first. I can’t.  pic.twitter.com/31SWk7Yyga
— Kate (@katebytheocean0) March 22, 2021
Look, I get it…to an extent. AA’s 737s are among the most uncomfortable to fly. There’s no seatback screens. Legroom is tight. Flights have been absolutely packed lately. I’d want to be first off too.
And yet in what world does it make sense to fight over saving a few seconds getting off the aircraft? If you need to use the lavatory, use the one onboard. If you have a connecting flight, 10-15 seconds is probably not going to make the difference and schedules are so padded these days that I cannot recall a flight that has not arrived early.
Claustrophobia? Then sit down, since your seatmates have probably already stood up. That means three seats to yourself.
Insulted or bumped? Ignore it, even if done deliberately. If you cannot ignore it, you wait till the passenger gets out into the jet bridge at least.
But the heat of passion is sometimes uncontrollable. Like here. The sad news is that not only did this inconvenience other passengers, but the passengers seeking to one-up eachother to save a few seconds ending up losing a far greater amount of time.
CONCLUSION
Yesterday I asked if the horrific unrest in Miami was due to cheap fares. Today, I could ask the same thing about this brawl being the byproduct of cheap fares. But even if cheap fares induced these two passengers to fly, American Airlines did not force them to fight, especially over something so petty.
But here’s my advice: if someone impatiently stands behind you while waiting to get off the aircraft, just move aside. It’s better than a fight, even if you think they deserve a punch in the face. Stepping aside is also better than letting them breathe down your neck.
So be the peacemaker. Don’t even admonish them because if someone is rude enough to push their way through a crowded airline aisle, they are probably rude enough to punch you for constructive criticism.
(H/T: View from the Wing)
At first I thought the video was taken onboard your private jet from Van Nuys to Oakland. Glad to see this was in fact an AA flight.
Seems to always be something common in these videos….
Ah, the new Oasis interior – driving people to literally fight to GTF off of that plane! Still, anyone with 1/4 of a brain knows that’s counter productive. Clearly these idiots don’t even operate with 1/4 of a brain.
As an aside, this brawl somehow has shades of your typical Spirit Airlines dustup. AA must have been offering super cheap fares for this cattle car.
Good advice. Be the peacemaker. The atmosphere onboard these days is very different than it’s ever been before. To me, it feels like it’s in constant danger of breaking out in a riott and I’m a little frightened most of the time. I don’t know if that’s cheap fares or covid stress or inexperienced travelers or the general breakdown of manners in our society. Whatever it is, be a peacemaker.
Agree with all you said but also wanted to share my observations a couple times when I traveled in the back of the plane. Maybe I am different or just know how to travel but before boarding I know what I need with me and what has to be in my carry on. As soon I get to my seat, carry on goes up and I get seated. Immediately. Same goes for deplaning. Get up, grab the carry on and get out as fast as I can. Now, most people think the plane is their private jet. They could not care less for other passengers, They get to their seat, take all the time they want to take stuff out of the carry on or place things inside. All this while blocking the aisle. Then once seated people get up over and over again because they need something else from the carry on. Same goes for deplaning. People take forever to get up, get all the stuff they have with them, take forever to grab the carry on and move like turtles through the aisle. Thus, after. along flight, patience is running low so although I don’t agree with fight over it I understand the frustration.
That thin curtain between first and coach is more than just a privacy barrier. It separates the Brawlers from the Ballers. The perks of being upgraded just got even more valuable 🙂
I’ve only traveled through the South a bit, but the manners looks like paradise:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMRf44m6pn4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3j6708kzEY
I’ve had a natural sense of Southern Manners and it’s sometimes gotten me in trouble in Philadelphia when someone was being rude and nasty to me and I killed them with kindness. A manager hauled me in and said “Are you getting off on driving people crazy?”
Matthew, you are doing a great job mitigating my sadness over having been grounded these past 12 months. Who wants to travel when this is how people are behaving on airplanes?
Of course, that raises the question as to whether heightened tensions really are leading to more incidents between passengers and between passengers and crew lately. (Heck, you even wrote about an incident between crew members in China!) Are things really crazier up in the skies these days , or is that just my impression from reading LALF?
Flying in Mexico and Europe is so much more pleasant than in the United States, because Mexicans and Europeans know how to behave in public. Way too many Americans don’t know basic manners.
@Fred Garvin: Actually, there always seems to be something in common with tiresome “observations” where the commenter is too cowardly to come out and say what they are thinking. How pathetic. Grow a pair.
@Ken…
Why should they state the OBVIOUS ? ….. It’s visible and affects us all everywhere and people are sick of it.
How about NOT traveling for pleasure during a pandemic? If you really NEED to travel because nothing else will bring relief then your life sucks. Work on improving it instead
Of course they are black.
‘Joellen’, what Americans are ‘OBVIOUSLY’ sick of are people like yourself, and your cowardly racism. And what continues to be visible to the rest of the world, is what a small minority of the American population you really represent. Your racism is unwelcome and you should be ashamed of yourself, but I imagine your ignorance wouldn’t allow that. How truly pathetic…..
In your conclusion, you ask if this has to do with cheap fares?
Just today a women – a tourist not from Hawai’i went “total Karen” in a grocery store about a mask situation. The article there said, there is a new type of tourist that are coming to the islands, and I came to your same conclusion. WN lowered fares to the islands.
And then there’s biting someone’s ear! SMH
Every bad experience I have had on a plane has been in coach.
@Michael,
Well as long as you’re okay with people who are idiots and are misbehaving (regardless of their race) and feel that no one, anywhere, anytime should be called out about it lest it “offend” any group, then YOU are a huge part of the problem – perpetuating liberal, lawless and uncaring society. Thankfully, some of us are still civilized.
Oh JoEllen: You’re just making a fool of yourself at this point. Not because you’re racist, but because you think other people are as stupid as you are.
It is obvious to any thinking person that you now saying “regardless of their race” after your initial comments is RIDICULOUS. How can you say misbehaving regardless of race” when it is precisely that characteristic that you are blaming for these individual behaviors. So funny how conservatives are all about personal and individual accountability…until they’re not.
You state: “As long as you’re okay with people who are idiots…” News flash: idiots are present in every race, period. It’s only people like you who hide behind false claims of people being offended and blaming “liberal, lawless and uncaring society” for the RIDICULOUS attitudes of your own kind. “Civilized?” Don’t make me laugh. Grow up, lady. “Uncaring?” Look in the damn mirror. God forbid you have children.
LMAO… as I always say… you check your luggage and your brain goes along with it… really?? Why is it so important to be the first to exit the airplane?? Small world problems people… get a life.
My last two flights two women have come from the back of the plane to cut in front of others rather than wait for others seated in front to deplane first without any mention of a connection. I admit this shocked me as I’d can’t imagine the nerve of someone doing this. Well, this last one stopped right by my aisle seat blocking me in. When it was my turn to go I started moving out and she said, “excuse me, that is my stuff”. I can’t remember if I replied but I shoved her stuff out of my way and waited for my Mom and others in the seats in front of me to deplane. Upon exiting I felt her bag on my heals and I turned to yell at her to not fn’ do that and stop cutting in line. She backed off after that but I was shaken after this incident. The woman was so rude and clearly was trying to bully her way past people. Anyway, I hope I don’t encounter this type of person ever again.