There is very little that would give a feeling of shame on board an aircraft. Most people tend to be quite polite and pleasant and understand that everyone wants to get to the other end with a minimum of fuss.
I am a person who likes to board the aircraft first as it means the airport experience is over and time to fly. As an aviation geek, I love being on planes so the sooner I get on board the better. Except that one time.
Being Seen Off By Friends
In Australia, when flying domestically, you can go through security even when you’re not flying. This means your friends or family can come to the airport with you and hang out before you head off on your flight. I really like this aspect of the Australian airport experience.
Many years ago, I was scheduled to fly somewhere and friends offered me a ride to the airport. Of course, that meant they came in to the terminal with me and we headed over to an outlet to have some lunch.
Relaxing Chit Chat
Naturally we ate our meal and at one point I got up and checked the flight information screens. Realising I had plenty of time, I wandered back to my group and continued the discussion.
After a while, I got a funny feeling that we had been sitting around rather too long. Curious, I went back to the screens and my stomach dropped as I saw the dreaded red FLIGHT CLOSED notice next to my flight. Needless to say, I ran back, said a hasty goodbye and ran to the gate.
Shame On Me!
As I rounded a corner and sprinted towards the podium, I got a “Mr. Trent?” from one of the desk staff to which I nodded and hurtled towards the boarding gate. Another, “Mr. Trent?” from the agent there who did not look impressed as my boarding pass was scanned.
Down the aerobridge I went, still at quite a good clip and I arrived panting at the aircraft door. “Mr. Trent?” queried the cabin crew to which I nodded. They checked my boarding pass and turned away.
The Walk Of Shame
In those days I always selected seats as far back in economy class as I could. It’s a more sporty ride down the back and on this flight I was down in row 40 something on the Boeing 767.
Down the aisle I went, running the gauntlet with every Australian passenger giving me daggers for delaying their departure. Through business class and through all of economy class to my seat down the back. It felt like I was walking to row 102. I quickly sat down and wished I could disappear into thin air.
Overall Thoughts
Apparently I was paged repeatedly in the terminal and on board before I arrived I got the “If Mr. Trent is on board, please make himself known to the crew” announcement we have all heard at one time or another. How embarrassing!
Looking back, this experience is probably why I am so prompt for flights nowadays. Lesson learned – read the screens properly and don’t mistake your flight for another.
Has this ever happened to you? How did you feel? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
Like planes? See my “Does anyone remember” series.
Flight reviews your thing? Mine are all indexed here.
Follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
A flight from Bogota to Toronto was closing while I was getting currency change, because somehow I had made it from check-in at an automatic terminal, through immigration, and to the gate without anyone noticing I hadn’t paid departure tax. This wasn’t noted in the airport, on the automatic machines, nobody in immigration mentioned it or asked for a receipt – I didn’t find out until boarding, where apparently the Air Canada staff had my name down but hadn’t thought to call me. They would only accept USD, which I didn’t have as it was a flight to Toronto, so I had to run to the currency exchange, change from CAD to USD, and run back. They were in the process of closing the gate and seemed surprised to see me!
Got on, sat down with people glaring….and then we had a 2.5 hour delay due to various engines failing. Oh well.
Hahaha!! All those glares were for nothing in the end, since you had a technical delay. It’s the worst when people know you’re responsible for keeping them there. I hate that pay departure tax in cash before you go system at some places. The Irish regional airports made you do that, however the two I had to do that at have now closed for lack of passengers. It’s better when it’s part of your ticket price, in my opinion. Thanks for the comment!
Through no fault of my own I connected in Denver on a Southwest routing SAN-DEN-STL on a day when DEN was having some particularly nasty thunderstorms. We circled DEN for what seemed like an hour at least and when I got off the plane a Southwest gate agent was calling my name (and a few others) and she told me they were holding my flight at the farthest gate from my arrival gate…of course. It was the last flight of the night from DEN to STL and I scampered down to the gate and was told to find an empty seat as quickly as possible, and they gate checked my carry on. I swear I got the stink eye from 90% of the passengers though surprisingly not from the two people I ended up sitting between! The man on the aisle even joked that he hoped I brought him some food as they were waiting for nearly an hour. For ME. As it so happened I always travel with a bag of goodies and in my best flight attendant voice replied “Salty or Sweet Sir?” He took a granola bar.
You’re very lucky they waited for you, really! Most times they would just be off and running and you’d be left to your own devices. I guess they took account of the weather, which is good. I can certainly imagine the other passengers weren’t too happy, but them’s the breaks! Fun story, thanks for that!
Too funny!
Scarlet!!
In 1985 – I was just 18 – had only flown once before. I had a connection from a small airport in Colorado to DFW (it was relatively small at the time). My flight from Colorado was late, this was before cell phones and the person I was visiting on the other end didn’t have a regular telephone either. So, if I didn’t get on my connecting flight I would have been stranded for days over the Thanksgiving Holiday without much money. So, when I got to the gate the plane I was supposed to be on was pulling away from the gate. I opened the jet bridge door and literally ran onto the runway! Could you imagine that today? They stopped the plane and let me on! I was so SCARED. Other than flying back home, it was YEARS before I tried airline travel again.
Hahahahaha! You opened the jet bridge door and ran onto the runway? That is a story and a half! Today you would be arrested in about 14 seconds and carted off to the hoosegow! Wow, I can just imagine the stress of that experience. I think you win with that story – hands down! Thanks so much for sharing!
I’ve done this more time than I’d like to count. There’s no fun in being the last one to board… and good luck finding space for your carry-on luggage!
That’s true, that is one of the reasons I like to get on first so I have carry-on space. Last is never fun especially when you’re as last as I was. Thanks for the comment!