Parents demand adult son pick them up from the airport early when their flight lands before scheduled, tell him off for being "late": 'I didn't think it was a big deal, but apparently they were stewing'

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Nov 29, 2025 12:00 PM EST

A tried and true rite of passage of the holidays is picking family up from and dropping them back off at the airport. Early hours on lack of sleep, making a comically long drive to the airport and back while the rest of the world is sleeping, and once you've picked someone up from the airport, you're rewarded with the knowledge that at some point you will have to go back to drop them off again.

Although you might be shell-shocked and weary for the rest of the day, it's all worth it, because it's the holidays and this is just something you do for family. It's a favor that you don't even really question, as if it is etched in the covenants of familial obligations. It's even something that you look forward to, the chance to see the familiar face of a loved one after a long time apart, separated by distance and life's obligations.

This, presumably, adult man was asked to pick his semi-retired parents up from the airport, something that he regularly did for them as the rest of us do for our family. The issue here was that his parents seemingly didn't understand that we, the younger generations, keep our phones on silent with notifications in do not disturb, and so there was a lapse in communication between the parents and their son when their flight arrived early at the airport.

We have enough going on and enough demands already in our lives that the last thing we need is some call, text, or notification tearing our already fractured attention away from the things that we need to focus on in the moment. It, in a way, is an answer, a solution that we have developed in response to a world where everything is constantly vying for our attention as a means for profit.

One would also argue that there was an agreed-upon time, and their expectation that he arrive early at their whim and demand and be at their beck and call is quite entitled. Their ensuing meltdown brought other familial issues to the surface as the man's father laid into him with how disappointed he was in his "irresponsible" son.

While there is definitely the issue of a difference in expectation and communication here, it's safe to say that this is probably the one situation that would cause me to never pick my parents up from the airport again. 

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  • 01
    A line of cars waits at the airport pickup area with overlaid text messages from an arriving guest
    via Spencer Plouzek

    The image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02

    [Am I wrong] for picking my parents up late from the airport

    My parents asked me to fetch them at the airport as per usual. They are both semi-retired and travel monthly either for business or for pleasure, so this favor is not new to me.
    via rant-ifying
  • 03
    They don't want me to waste money on parking at the airport, so what we have been doing for years is they message me for updates ("we have boarded the plane", "we have landed" etc) so that we estimate what time I have to leave. Since I am about
    via rant-ifying
  • 04
    30mins away from the airport, I am usually asked to leave the house at the same time they arrive. This gives them time to leave the plane, get their baggage, etc.
    via rant-ifying
  • 05
    At around 12:30nn, they informed me that their flight is "on time", and their arrival is 15:25. I was already ready to leave by 14:00, and was having a mid-afternoon snack at 14:30 while waiting for updates.
    via rant-ifying
  • 06
    Apparently, they sent a message to the family group chat that their plane landed at 14:45; more than 30 mins past (edit: earlier than) their arrival time. Since ALL my group chats are on mute (work-related groups are also on that phone), I do not get notifications unless I am tagged/mentioned, so I did not see their message.
    via rant-ifying
  • 07
    I decided to check my phone at around 15:20 since it was close to their arrival time, and saw their messages. I gathered my things was was already walking to the door when my mom called and asked me where I was. I told her that I was leaving and said, "Huh? Why just now?" I told her that I didn't get a notification since I wasn't tagged, and she ended the call.
    via rant-ifying
  • 08
    I got to the airport at 15:53, and honestly, I didn't think it was a big deal, but apparently they were stewing in their anger on my drive to the airport. When they got inside the car with my father in the passenger seat, he started SHOUTING at me. Like
    via rant-ifying
  • 09
    no holds barred, voice at maximum level, and shouting at me about being completely irresponsible. Telling me things like "yes, I am telling you straight to your face how absolutely irresponsible you are!" and not giving me a chance to explain myself.
    via rant-ifying
  • 10
    We have not talked since I dropped them off. They have defended themselves to my siblings intensely. I can acknowledge that maybe I should have checked the group
    via rant-ifying
  • 11
    chat more frequently, but I do not believe their reaction was warranted. I disagree that their reaction was proportionate to my "sin". AITA for refusing to apologize?
    via rant-ifying
  • 12
    OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole: 1. My refusal to apologize and talk to my parents at all 2. Because | refuse to apologize even though they think I did something very wrong
    via rant-ifying
  • 13
    hiddenkobolds NTA. Their plane got in early. You were doing them a favor-- one that they regularly expect of you, no less. Surely if it was that urgent, they could have called sooner? Also, nothing justifies screaming at you. Absolutely nothing. It's a lot of entitlement, and a lot of bad behavior on their part.
    via rant-ifying
  • 14
    T_G_A_H NTA. No more airport pickups by you, and I would hold firm on that. Unless they give you a sincere apology and you have rules for future airport arrival notification. The least they could've done was to notify you personally and directly that they got in early. It's not on you to check all the possible channels of communication-that's ridiculous!
    via rant-ifying
  • 15
    GardenSafe8519 NTA. The MINUTE ANYONE screams at me in my car I'd be telling them to STFU!! I'm doing you a favor and you're going to scream at me? NO! You don't get to do that. So you can be quiet and appreciate that you didn't have to taxi/ Uber or you can get out of my car and get that taxi/Uber.
    via rant-ifying
  • 16
    Don't ever do them the "favor" of picking up or dropping off at the airport. They're grown, they figured out how to book travel they can figure out how to get home.
    via rant-ifying
  • 17
    Just-Context-4703 Your parents sound rich enough to arrange their own transportation. NTA
    via rant-ifying

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family dynamics family drama entitled parents holiday season airport family feud holiday one small favor family holidays parents
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