All About Landing & Deplaning the Airplane

Basic of Air Travel: Landing & Deplaning

Finally, you have touched down in your destination city. You are almost there, but there are just a few things left to consider before you can consider your travels fully over.

Although the aircraft may finally be on the ground, it will still take a while to taxi to the gate and jetway. So just leave your seatbelt fastened and carried on items stowed until the plane is parked and the seatbelt sign turned off. I don’t care if you see people around you flick open their seatbelt the minute the wheels touch down, it isn’t a safe choice. There’s no need to follow the crowd on this one.

Once the seatbelt sign is turned off, unbuckle, and go ahead and stand up if you need or want to. It will still take some time for the jetway to be moved and connected to the airplane and for the front door to be opened, so there won’t be any movement for a little bit longer.

After the door is opened, passengers will begin to gather their personal items and get off the plane. You will find that the deplaning process goes much more quickly and efficiently when everyone proceeds in an orderly fashion, row by row. It just makes sense to let the people in front of you get off before you. If you personally need a little bit longer to get your items gathered up, just motion people by you.

It never fails to amaze me how many people sitting in the back rows of the airplane think that they are going to get off first.

Slowly now, you are inching forward – row by row – and you’ll be off the airplane soon. . . and as your walking off it is always nice to say thank you to your flight crew as you leave.

Check back tomorrow for the final installment in the Basics of Air Travel series, covering the myriad aspects of your travel experience.