You shouldn’t do the “aesthetic tray” airport trend

Queuing to go through security at the airport is probably the least glamorous and most stressful part of most holiday.

So to find out more about a new trend that has apparently swept social media, with people trying to take ‘aesthetic’ photos of their belongings in airport safety boxes, has left us a little baffled.

Look, we’re generally big fans of a nice travel photo, but at the risk of delaying an already lengthy part of the airport experience, this is a trend we won’t be left behind.

There are more than 16 million related posts tagged “airport magazine aesthetics.”

And it’s being picked up by people around the world who take a few extra minutes to put together color-coordinated photos of their personal belongings neatly positioned in the gray security containers.

NYC influencer Chelsea Henriquez recently shared a video of her and her friends doing just this, and the footage has already been viewed more than 370,000 times.

“I take the tray with me after I go through TSA and keep my stuff near the benches where people put their shoes back on,” she told The New York Post.

“This way, I’m not in a hurry to set up the tray while I’m on the TSA line, and I also don’t bother fellow travelers or the TSA people by getting in their way.”

But of course, as with everything airport-related, not all travelers are equally considerate of other people and may not follow that protocol.

In a statement to The Post, the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is “aware” of the move:

“As long as the staged glamor shots do not cause delays or problems with other passengers at the checkpoint, there are no problems,” they said.

“Travellers should ensure that they securely store their IDs, passports and any light objects on them that can be swept from the bins when entering the machines,” the agency added.

It’s also worth pointing out that taking photos at security is generally prohibited due to the risk it poses.

“Such restrictions are a continuation of changes in airport security following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001,” Doug Drury, chief aviation officer at CQUniversity in Australia, previously told Things NZ

“Security teams regularly change their processes to avoid creating identifiable patterns that could be used to create a security breach.”

As with most trends, there are followers and naysayers who focus on many social media posts and call out this practice.

“I’m sorry, but no one is really that aesthetic,” one person commented.

“I’m not my nicest self at the airport when I catch you taking Pinterest photos in the TSA line. I’ll put my trash can in front of yours.”

“What airport do you go to where you can artfully organize your stuff and take aesthetic photos? If I tried this at any airport in the tri-state area, TSA would yell at me.”