Airline worker praised for clever trick to punish ‘gate lice’ who jump the queue
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An airline worker has been praised for his cut-throat method to tackle ‘gate lice’. Often unexperienced flyers, gate lice, attempt to queue up the minute their gate opens. These people might try to board in front of First or Business Class passengers, or those who are in an earlier boarding ‘zone’.
![[People queuing at airport]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/GettyImages-1417005566-2711.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
They can also cause delays and confusion if a passenger in a wheelchair needs to board. But one gate agent took matters into his own hands to solve the problem. According to a thread on Reddit, the airport employee came up with a ‘punishment’ for those attempting to jump the queue.
‘Gate agent stated if he caught anyone trying to board before their zone was called, he was automatically confiscating and gate checking their carry-on bags,’ wrote Reddit user FAPietroKoch in a post on the Delta Airlines subreddit. ‘He said they would also go to back of the line.’.
Some airlines are coming up with more official ways to tackle queue jumpers. In October, American Airlines announced they were testing a new type of tech, the so called ‘beep of shame’. As passengers scan their boarding passengers at the gate, it detects if they’re in the wrong queue, and a noise will ring out, signalling that they must step aside, and wait their turn.
It’s up to the person manning the gate to decide if they’ll relent and let them through, or insist they stand by and awkwardly wait until the priority group has boarded. The noise was dubbed the ‘beep of shame’ by NBC presenter, Sheinelle Jones. While her co-host, Craig Melvin added: ‘I love the idea of publicly shaming people who break the rules… the beep should get louder the more often you do it.’.
