A quiet airport, a 26% rejection rate, and a lesson in not reading the rules

Why We Still Don’t Follow Instructions: A Quarter Of Airport Bags Rejected At Security

Travelling through Manchester Airport to Dublin yesterday was unexpectedly straight-forward as, by the time I took my late afternoon flight, all the holiday traffic had already been despatched.

A quiet UK airport in July - now there's a thing.

Time, therefore, to study the display in security, recording:

1. how many passengers had passed through;

2. what the average wait time was for hand baggage pulled off the security check conveyor belt;

3. what percentage of that hand baggage had been "rejected".

By "rejected" what I mean is that awful moment when you see your tray pushed off the belt and into that special shoot where an airport worker who looks as if they hate their job collects your tray, brings it over and asks to you co-inspect the bags.

We all know that, in the majority of circumstances, there are some liquids that are over the limit and have to be confiscated.

Now - I get to my point - you would think, wouldn't you, that there has been sufficient information on social media, via word of mouth and on the numerous signs around the airport, that such offending items should be removed from your bags, placed in their see-through plastic folders or not brought at all if they are over the limit?

We have come a long way since the 1970's when my grandmother arrived for a flight to Australia with two suet puddings in her briefcase as a gift for her daughter in Sydney. Those were days when long-haul flights were the equivalent of an epic adventure.

Nowadays flights are like taxi rides.

So what was the "rejection rate" on the hand baggage yesterday afternoon?

26.10%

A quarter of the bags were pulled, and no doubt earlier in the day to the dismay of the hordes of Mediterranean package holidaymakers.

Do I find it staggering that a quarter of people taking flights don't read the instructions? I cannot believe that is absent-mindedness.

Then I remind myself that most people simply don't read the memo in life.

Your patients don't read the instructions for treatment plans.

My clients don't read the instructions for meetings and workshops.

I don't read the instructions for self-assembly equipment and furniture.

We are all just too busy.

Moral 1 - A timely reminder yesterday, that the time you save by not reading the instructions is a fraction of the time you lose as a consequence.

I used to wonder why every flight began with a demonstration of how to wear a seat belt.

Now I understand - if they didn't do that, 25% of the passengers would be bouncing around the cabin if we hit any turbulence, or wandering to the toilet during take-off and landing.

Moral 2 - Never assume that someone has read the instructions.