Turkey will Fine Impatient Passengers for Standing Up Too Soon

In a world first, the government of Turkey will fine impatient passengers for standing up before the fabled airplane “ding” is heard.

Uncoincidentally, on my take-offs and landings YouTube page LandingIsHalftheBattle, my most popular video involves this action, even if it was the country just west of Turkey. While the airplane was in its final approach to Thessaloniki, Greece, you can clearly hear one flight attendant yap “sit down please, we are landing.”

Of course, I have my own thoughts on passenger behavior, with many of those opinions stemming from what happens once the flight lands.

If you’re lucky enough to get a jet bridge — one of those connectors between the airplane door and the terminal — prepare for the nadir of society. That is to say, see if your travel BINGO card has:
– folks rushing off the aircraft only to become sloths on said jet bridge
– wheeled luggage slaloming so that you could never pass
– families taking up the entire width of the jet bridge
– mobile phones being unsheathed to estimate arrival times for rideshare drivers, even though no one ever has any idea how long it might take
– backpacks without rear-view mirrors and larger than overhead spaces getting in your face

It appears that the Turkish government has had enough of this flim flam. As a result of the prior mentioned boorish actions of travelers, Turkey will fine impatient passengers for standing up too soon. The expected fine will be around 2, 603 Turkish lira, or roughly USD$67 at today’s exchange rate.

If this happens, fantastic stuff. What else might be nice? Media companies that stop giving passengers the benefit of the doubt when a flight “unexpectedly hits a pocket of turbulence.”

Were the bumps so bad that they dislodged the buckle from the rest of the seat belt?

That’s what I thought.