However, there are times when the delays get ridiculous.
Earlier this month, a pair of Etihad jets each spent more than 12 hours stuck on the tarmac in Abu Dhabi. On one of the flights, an elderly passenger died during the delay.
Sometimes the ridiculousness of the delay isn't due to the length, but rather the conditions under which the delay occurs. This week, 130 passengers onboard a Gol Airlines jet were delayed an hour on the ground in Rio de Janeiro while waiting to take off for a flight to Sao Paulo, the Daily Mail reported.
Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal. But in this case, Rio was in the midst of heatwave and the air conditioning on board the jet failed.
Although the passengers on the Etihad flights seemed to take things in stride, the Gol passengers and even some cabin crew revolted. According to the Daily Mail, passengers compared the cabin to a sauna. They even resorted to opening emergency doors to get some fresh air and escape the 100 degree heat.
A similar incident occurred earlier this month onboard a China Eastern Airlines Jet in Kunming, China. 153 passengers were subjected to a seven hour delay after their 8:45PM flight was not cleared to take off until 3:17 AM. The plane then spent the next half hour getting de-iced. The captain shut off the jet's ventilation system to keep the fumes from the de-icing fluid from entering the cabin.
According to the Daily Mail, the fed-up passengers the opened three of the aircraft's emergency doors as the jet was taxing towards the runway, forcing the plane to return to the gate.
The newspaper reports that a total of 25 passengers were detained for questioning, and that two of them were arrested for opening the jet's doors.
REUTERS/Jon Woo
Sometimes it's due to inexperience.
A passenger onboard a Xiamen Airlines Boeing 737 opened an over-wing emergency door to get some fresh air as the aircraft was preparing for take off.
According to the Guardian, officials attributed the incident to an honest mistake by a first time flyer.
Other instances can be attributed to pure selfishness. For example, a passenger recently deployed the emergency slide on a China Eastern Airlines Airbus A321 in Sanya, China. The reason for this behavior? The passenger simply wanted to get off of the plane quicker.
Unpleasant experiences aren't really anyone's fault - rather, they're usually the result of a series of unfortunate decisions made by the people who fly the planes along with the passengers who are flying on them.