‘Behave like adults’: Plane passengers who stand up too soon called out
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It’s a debate that has been raging among plane passengers forever – once a plane lands, how soon is too soon to jump up out of your seat?
Now a US airline has stirred the pot again by calling out passengers who get up long before the plane doors are open to let them off.
An airline has called out passengers who stand as soon as the seatbelt sign is off. iStock
Southwest Airlines took to Threads recently to share a post directed at those travellers who are up the second the seatbelt sign turns off.
“You 👏 won’t 👏 get 👏 off 👏 the 👏 plane 👏 faster 👏 by 👏 standing 👏 up 👏 .001 👏 seconds 👏 after 👏 the 👏 seatbelt 👏 sign 👏 turns 👏 off 👏,” the post read.
However, despite the light-hearted post, commenters didn’t take too kindly to being called out.
“I have a connecting flight that I am going to be late to,” was one response.
“I’m standing up because I’ve been sitting for 5 hours and I need to stretch my legs!,” another wrote.
Another pointed out they do in order to get their things sorted so they’re not holding up people behind them.
The actual rules around when to get up are pretty clear. Passengers should remain in their seats until the plane has come to a complete stop and the captain has turned off the seat belt sign.
Southwest Airlines copped some backlash for a post calling out passengers. iStock
But as most will know, after that, it can become a bit of a free-for-all.
We asked other travellers on the nine.com.au team whether they thought the airline was in the wrong to call out the most eager of passengers, but most agreed that unless you have an urgent connecting flight, you need to wait your turn.
“I don’t mind if people stand at their seat to stretch their legs,” Mikala said. “It becomes a problem when they immediately rush into the aisle and try to rip their bag out of the overhead, and then they just stand and wait in the aisle. That pisses me off.”
Patrick agreed, saying stretching your legs at your seat is fine. “Not a fan of pushing in and jumping the queue when trying to get off the plane,” he said.
Maddison pointed out that generally, all passengers are in the same situation.
“Unless the plane was delayed, and you have to run to your connecting flight, sit the hell down,” she said. “Everyone has somewhere to be, everyone wants to stretch their legs, but we all behave like adults and stay seated until the plane door opens – so you can too.”
Most people agree unless you have a tight connecting flight, wait your turn to get off. iStock
Some airlines have been known to assist those with tight connections by making announcements. But sadly, many passengers simply don’t listen to the announcements.
“I’ve been on a few flights that when we land they come over the speaker and say if you’re on this flight leaving in 20 minutes, please get off the plane first, everyone else, please let them off the plane first,” Mikala said.
“So in that instance, if your flight isn’t the one leaving, and you’re waiting in the aisle blocking the path, you deserve nothing.”
I was on an Airlink flight in South Africa not too long ago and the cabin crew actually positioned themselves in the aisle to prevent people from getting up.
Some say they get up to get their things sorted so others don't have to wait. Getty
Instead, as they explained over the PA system, passengers would be “released” from the aircraft row-by-row. I didn’t hate that and was told it was something the airline had introduced during the COVID-era and decided to keep.
It felt more orderly, even though it didn’t make a huge difference to me as I was seated in the middle row and didn’t feel I got off any faster than I would have otherwise.
Some passengers take things a step further by getting up even before the seatbelt sign turns off. But airlines are cracking down on the behaviour.
The Turkish Civil Aviation Authority declared in May 2025 that any passengers who unbuckle their seatbelts and stand up before the plane has come to a complete stop could be hit with a $125 fine.
