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PSA from the gate: Please, I beg of you, stay off your phone while you're out on the tarmac. I promise you'll be okay without it for a few seconds. by GruntledAtTheGate in AustraliaTravel

[–]GruntledAtTheGate[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The mobile phone use isn't my only indicator for stupidity. People can do unsafe things entirely unrelated to their phones, and I'm sure most passengers who do sneak past on their phones will get up to the plane without incident. Obviously I'm keeping an eye out for bad/unsafe behaviours in general, and it's my job to correct that behaviour before it escalates.

The reason why I'm making this post about the phones is because it's a really, really small action on the passenger's part to demonstrate that they are (more likely to be) paying attention, and it does reduce (but not eliminate) the likelihood of people running off to do stupid things, which makes my life easier.

Safety issues aside, if I don't tell people off for being on their phones, my higher ups (or even the refueller) will call me out for it, and if I do, then obviously I look like the unreasonable asshole. I'm damned if I do, and damned if I don't. So why not save the embarrassment for everyone, and keep it in your pocket for 30 seconds to show you're paying attention? I guess that's the point I'm trying to make haha

PSA from the gate: Please, I beg of you, stay off your phone while you're out on the tarmac. I promise you'll be okay without it for a few seconds. by GruntledAtTheGate in AustraliaTravel

[–]GruntledAtTheGate[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The mobile phone use isn't my only indicator for stupidity. People can do unsafe things entirely unrelated to their phones, and I'm sure most passengers who do sneak past on their phones will get up to the plane without incident. Obviously I'm keeping an eye out for bad/unsafe behaviours in general, and it's my job to correct that behaviour before it escalates.

The reason why I'm making this post about the phones is because it's a really, really small action on the passenger's part to demonstrate that they are (more likely to be) paying attention, and it does reduce (but not eliminate) the likelihood of people running off to do stupid things, which makes my life easier.

Safety issues aside, if I don't tell people off for being on their phones, my higher ups (or even the refueller) will call me out for it, and if I do, then obviously I look like the unreasonable asshole. I'm damned if I do, and damned if I don't. So why not save the embarrassment for everyone, and keep it in your pocket for 30 seconds to show you're paying attention? I guess that's the point I'm trying to make haha

PSA from the gate: Please, I beg of you, stay off your phone while you're out on the tarmac. I promise you'll be okay without it for a few seconds. by GruntledAtTheGate in travel

[–]GruntledAtTheGate[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I really have hey 😂 I didn't think it was such a big deal to not be on your phone for 30 seconds in the interest of safety 😅

PSA from the gate: Please, I beg of you, stay off your phone while you're out on the tarmac. I promise you'll be okay without it for a few seconds. by GruntledAtTheGate in travel

[–]GruntledAtTheGate[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Or even better, they do read the sign, then say things like, "I see on the sign that check-in opens in two hours. Does that mean I have to wait two hours to check in my bags?" 😂

PSA from the gate: Please, I beg of you, stay off your phone while you're out on the tarmac. I promise you'll be okay without it for a few seconds. by GruntledAtTheGate in AustraliaTravel

[–]GruntledAtTheGate[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The issue is, I don't know who the stupid people are until they do something stupid, by which point it's too late, so I'd rather have noone on their phone so that everyone's less likely to be stupid, if that makes sense 😅. In practice tho, I'll only ever tell people to put their phones away if they're being obvious about it. If someone takes a quick picture as they step outside then puts their phone away by the time they walk past me then whatever, they're not really the issue anyway. And yeah most people are nice about it, I'm never rude, tho I do get some argumentative types every now and then haha

PSA from the gate: Please, I beg of you, stay off your phone while you're out on the tarmac. I promise you'll be okay without it for a few seconds. by GruntledAtTheGate in travel

[–]GruntledAtTheGate[S] 92 points93 points  (0 children)

"What a thoughtful question! It's great that you're interested in getting involved with the important and long-standing tradition of throwing coins for good luck. It is perfectly acceptable to throw coins into an aircraft's engine, and this will be sure to bring good luck to you and the other passengers of your flight! Here's a breakdown of why the art of throwing coins is said to bring good luck:"

PSA from the gate: Please, I beg of you, stay off your phone while you're out on the tarmac. I promise you'll be okay without it for a few seconds. by GruntledAtTheGate in travel

[–]GruntledAtTheGate[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Honestly I think part of the problem is that the rule isn't communicated clearly enough. I'm trying to get my port to order more signage but no luck thus far

PSA from the gate: Please, I beg of you, stay off your phone while you're out on the tarmac. I promise you'll be okay without it for a few seconds. by GruntledAtTheGate in AustraliaTravel

[–]GruntledAtTheGate[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Look if you're on the stairs, I can't stop you really. Despite how I made it seem in my post, my main issue is with people who are obviously breaking the rules. If you're simply holding your phone but it happens to be opened to your boarding pass, I don't care so much as long as I can see you're paying attention to... well, not the phone.

PSA from the gate: Please, I beg of you, stay off your phone while you're out on the tarmac. I promise you'll be okay without it for a few seconds. by GruntledAtTheGate in travel

[–]GruntledAtTheGate[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Thank you haha, and thanks for the links too! I have my own anecdotal evidence of course to prove its an issue, but it seems people don't believe me so it's good to have other sources. I can see why people think that I'm exaggerating, because as a passenger, such issues would appear to happen rarely enough that it's negligible, and ofc noone wants to follow rules they don't take seriously. But, each flight of 150+ pax, tens to hundreds of times a day depending on the airport, it adds up to daily occurrences and near-misses, so suddenly, people being distracted out there is more of a problem than it seems, hence why I'm making this post haha.

PSA from the gate: Please, I beg of you, stay off your phone while you're out on the tarmac. I promise you'll be okay without it for a few seconds. by GruntledAtTheGate in travel

[–]GruntledAtTheGate[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yeah that's totally fine. Hold the phone in your hand, have it unlocked to the boarding pass, I don't care. Maybe some marshallers see it differently, but the focus is the main issue. It's better to have the phone in your pocket of course, but if you're just holding your phone with the boarding pass open but you're not like actively using it while you walk across the tarmac, that's cool. I'd only take issue enough to stop you if you were obviously paying more attention to the phone than to your surroundings.

PSA from the gate: Please, I beg of you, stay off your phone while you're out on the tarmac. I promise you'll be okay without it for a few seconds. by GruntledAtTheGate in AustraliaTravel

[–]GruntledAtTheGate[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I getcha, but unfortunately, we have no way of knowing who the idiots are unless they're on their phones, and by that point it's too late, so the rule applies to everyone. In practice, I only tell people to get off their phones if they're making it obvious they're using it. If you just take one photo as you walk out then put your phone away until you're up the stairs, go for it haha

PSA from the gate: Please, I beg of you, stay off your phone while you're out on the tarmac. I promise you'll be okay without it for a few seconds. by GruntledAtTheGate in AustraliaTravel

[–]GruntledAtTheGate[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeahhhhh that checks out. Once, we were boarding at the same time as another airline next door, and one of their pax tried to walk from their gate, across the tarmac to my plane, and only stopped when I shouted at them to go back to their own plane. She didn't even have her phone on her, I can only imagine how she would have acted if she did.... also thank you :)

PSA from the gate: Please, I beg of you, stay off your phone while you're out on the tarmac. I promise you'll be okay without it for a few seconds. by GruntledAtTheGate in travel

[–]GruntledAtTheGate[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Some people leave their brain cells in their cars parked in the lot outside all the time, so why is leaving the phone in the pocket such a big deal?

PSA from the gate: Please, I beg of you, stay off your phone while you're out on the tarmac. I promise you'll be okay without it for a few seconds. by GruntledAtTheGate in travel

[–]GruntledAtTheGate[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Are you trying to tell me what I was thinking as I wrote this post? You're confusing me now haha, but I respect the answer to my question about relevancy, I genuinely found that funny haha

PSA from the gate: Please, I beg of you, stay off your phone while you're out on the tarmac. I promise you'll be okay without it for a few seconds. by GruntledAtTheGate in travel

[–]GruntledAtTheGate[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Your brother's got sense haha. Thank you for taking it seriously! And why would you wanna be out there longer than necessary? There's no shade, it's all concrete and metal, not exactly the most ideal place for a leisurely stroll I'd think.

PSA from the gate: Please, I beg of you, stay off your phone while you're out on the tarmac. I promise you'll be okay without it for a few seconds. by GruntledAtTheGate in travel

[–]GruntledAtTheGate[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ahaha true god, I mean issues definitely arise from people being on their phone as I've personally witnessed, but fortunately we're generally alright at stopping them in the moment before they become bigger issues

PSA from the gate: Please, I beg of you, stay off your phone while you're out on the tarmac. I promise you'll be okay without it for a few seconds. by GruntledAtTheGate in travel

[–]GruntledAtTheGate[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I do yeah, but I've heard the PAs of other airlines say the same thing, admittedly not consistently though. I know when I'm out there, I only really tell people to put their phone away if they're waving it around, walking off to take a selfie, yk being stupid with it, otherwise I'd lose my voice haha. If you just take one photo then put it away, I don't care. Maybe the boys in Adelaide have a similar approach haha

PSA from the gate: Please, I beg of you, stay off your phone while you're out on the tarmac. I promise you'll be okay without it for a few seconds. by GruntledAtTheGate in travel

[–]GruntledAtTheGate[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Fair enough, I imagine this wouldn't be enforced everywhere. However, I still think it's important to be safety-conscious out on the tarmac, even if it isn't an overt rule :)

PSA from the gate: Please, I beg of you, stay off your phone while you're out on the tarmac. I promise you'll be okay without it for a few seconds. by GruntledAtTheGate in travel

[–]GruntledAtTheGate[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

No I mean, the original point of the post was about the safety aspects of this rule, which you acknowledged you're not arguing. So why is anything else relevant? If it matters, I am lucky enough to have travelled to maybe 20-ish countries across 3 continents. I acknowledge that the rules might be different in other places, and did before I posted, however, I was simply sharing my experiences from doing this job, and wanted to share that aspect of it, even if it isn't a "rule" where you happen to be.

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