Flightster

People Watching at Airports

• by Bobby Laurie
• on June 28th, 2010
• 3 Comments

When I became a flight attendant the airport became my second home. Sometimes I think I spend more time waiting around for flights in an airport then I do at home on my couch. It comes with the job and is something that, over the years, I’ve come to love and accept.

Now, you might be asking, why is it something you love? The answer is simple, people watching. There is no better way to pass time in an airport then to observe your surroundings. Once you’ve passed through security you quickly witness passengers who haven’t flown in at least ten years, those that are confused over why they just had to pay to check a bag and those who decided that flying in their pajamas was fashionable.

One of my favorite locations to people watch is near the “moving sidewalks.” In theory the moving sidewalk serves two purposes. It allows passengers to stand motionless as it carries them through a corridor without any effort of their own and it allows those passengers running late for flights (or in a hurry to leave the airport) to walk on the sidewalk, moving them at double the pace they would have had they just walked on their own. In every airport I’ve visited, above each moving sidewalk, is a sign directing travelers that the left side of the belt is for walking and the right side is for standing. However it seems no one ever notices or pays attention.

Watching 5-10 passengers merge together onto the moving sidewalk is where the fun lies. The businessmen running late for their flights are running to get ahead of those not moving quick enough, in their opinion, to ensure that they will be able to run across the belt without interference to get catch their flight. They’re running because they know that at the same time, the leisure travelers (who actually arrived at the airport with ample time before their flight) usually board the moving walkway and drop their bags right in the middle of the belt, blocking all those passengers behind them from passing. Add into the mix that flight crews use moving sidewalks like highways as they storm through the terminal on their way to their next departing flight and you have endless minutes of entertainment.

Credit: Stu Seeger

The gate area is my second favorite places to people watch. Sitting in a seat which gives you a view of the gate, it’s marquee, and the line that forms is perfect. It’s funny to note how many times the agents relay information to the passengers via the public address system and how many times they get asked questions they just answered in the same public address moments ago.

Earlier this year I was being assisted by a Southwest gate agent who was checking me in for a flight home to Phoenix from San Francisco. Before he started working on my reservation he made three attempts, five minutes apart, to locate six passengers who were traveling a flight to Denver that was already boarded and ready to go out of the gate I was standing in front of. Finally, at departure time, the door was closed and he started to work on my Phoenix flight and my reservation. About ten minutes later the sounds of running and screaming filled the boarding area. The six passengers that were headed to Denver had arrived. They walked right in front of me and said to the agent “Hi, we’re going to Denver.” He quickly said, “you missed the flight, please step behind this gentleman and we’ll work on your reservation next.”

They didn’t like that answer. As the plane was being pushed back from the gate it came into view from the window, the girls noticed it and screamed “stop that plane!”– like that would work. The boarding area erupted in laughter. The agent told them that he had called for them three times before they closed the door, and unfortunately, there was no more flights to Denver departing that day from San Francisco, unless they wanted to go to Oakland Airport. One of them responded “Okay! We‘ll do that, what gate is Oakland at?” The agent smirked at me, then said to them “It’ll take about 45 minutes to an hour to get there from here, it’s across the Bay.” The same girl responded with “how big IS this airport?”

Take these observations as a lesson. Unless you want to become someone else’s entertainment be aware of your surroundings. Read signs, listen for information, know your departure time and also find humor in everyday life.

Bobby Laurie

Bobby Laurie, author of the book Planely Speaking and television travel correspondent, currently works as a Flight Attendant at a low-cost airline and as a freelance journalist. After graduating from the Pennsylvania College of Technology with a degree in Mass Media Communication, Bobby combined his passion for both journalism and travel by writing about the travel industry through his insider knowledge and personal experiences. You can read Bobby's blog about being a flight attendant and the airline industry by visiting UpUpAndAGay.com.