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Generally, a metal object with a thick ground wire will be the path of least resistance. People, even when wet, are orders of magnitude higher in resistance, and are of no interest to lightning (when adjacent to a good conductor). A jetway would make it virtually impossible to get any current into you if you tried.
Jun 26 · 13 days ago
I think union rules negotiated in 1962 are a more likely explanation.
☕️ Morgan [OP] · Jun 26 at 06:45:
I found some discussion on a forum from 20 years ago :)
— https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=267185
One person speaking about Delta said
We have the 5 mile rule with lightning, everything stops, if a plane lands then he has to wait until the storm has passed or we feel that our safety is no longer in danger before we go out and work it. I love my job but not to the point where i'll stand in a storm to unload bags.
📡 Queen_City_Nerd · Jun 28 at 10:54:
Impact of Lightning Strikes on Airport Facility and Ground Operations :Lightning strikes may wreak havoc on airports, causing minor to substantial destruction worth millions of dollars. This study focuses on incidents that occurred at United States airports between 1996 and 2020, including death, injury, infrastructure damage, worker compensation claims, and airline delays (1996-2020).
https://ojs.library.okstate.edu/osu/index.php/CARI/article/view/8533
Stuck — I just learned ... am learning ... that when a plane arrives at the airport, if there is a thunderstorm in progress, they can't actually open the door. My first thought was: why not? Lightning is fine as long as you are near something that will take the strike, usually a building with a lightning rod. And then I realized, oh. If there's a storm you really don't want to be near a large poorly grounded metal object, like a plane. So it totally makes sense that the ground staff have to...