- Passengers waiting to board a delayed flight at Miami airport got creative to pass the time.
- Viral TikToks show how they competed in timed running races and jammed out to music at the gate.
Flight delays can be frustrating, but a group of passengers boarding a delayed flight at Miami airport found a creative way to pass the time instead of becoming an "angry mob."
A series of videos shared by a creator called Lizzie, who uses the handle @coachness45 on TikTok, this week showed how passengers waiting to board a flight from Miami entertained themselves by competing in timed races running around the terminal.
"My flight is delayed 2 hours. It's already 12:30am. And a group of guys are challenging people to see who can run a full Miami Airport lap in the shortest time," the creator wrote in her first TikTok, which has received more than 11 million views.
@coachness45 1min 20 secs is the fastest so far. And the man was gassed Will keep you posted on the new contender’s time. #miamiairport #miami #runningintheairport #airportruns #race #airport #delayedflight #iwannagohomeeeeeeee ♬ original sound - Lizzie
The video shows one individual appearing to volunteer for the running challenge as the whole group applauds and laughs.
"1min 20 secs is the fastest so far. And the man was gassed," the creator captioned the video. "Will keep you posted on the new contender's time."
In a follow-up TikTok, Lizzie showed that after the running race, the group was treated to further entertainment when two male passengers attempted the iconic lift from "Dirty Dancing" while an airline staffer played "The Time of My Life" over the PA.
"I can't make this up," the user wrote in the second clip, which has nearly 200,000 views.
@coachness45 #miamiairport #flightdelayed #airportchronicles #fyp ♬ original sound - Lizzie
No one likes a delayed flight, so many people in the comments praised the passengers making the most of an annoying situation.
One of the top comments on the first clip, which has more than 41,000 likes, was made by a user who said they loved seeing the passengers "putting anxious energy somewhere healthy vs throwing it at the gate attendant who has no control over the situation."
"Love this energy," another commentator wrote. "When my flight was delayed it was more of an angry mob."
Another suggested that airports should take note and consider installing exercise opportunities at terminals to keep delayed passengers occupied: "This is why I think the airport needs exercise bikes and manual treadmills. It allows people to channel their energy in a productive way."
Discussions about how to pass time at airports is also more relevant than ever now that flight delays are increasingly more common.
As director of the management and technology program at the University of Pennsylvania, Gad Allon, wrote for Insider, the drive to make tickets as cheap as possible means airlines are becoming less competitive in every other aspect of air travel.
This includes deprioritizing on-time performance, which has resulted in more flight delays. Recent holidays such as July 4, when almost 5,000 flights were delayed the previous day, are a prime example.