Honestly, the “gate lice” problem is mostly airline created.
Airports have maybe 50% of the seating capacity needed at gates, so people stand. Airlines charge for checked bags, and if you don’t board early in your group, your carry on gets taken and checked with a non zero chance of delay plus an extra 30 minutes at baggage claim. Of course people crowd the gate.
Maybe 1% of it is nervous flyers worried they’ll miss boarding. The rest is just people responding rationally to bad incentives.
Twenty years ago, people boarded at the last possible minute because nobody wanted extra time trapped in a metal tube. Traveling was easier. Airlines changed the rules and then blamed customers for adapting.
So yeah, before airline staff complain about gate lice, maybe fix the system that created them in the first place.
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