Originally Posted by
qlabdad
There were storms in the DAL area and after we pushed back and sat for a while the captain said they were being re-routed to the west and didn't load enough fuel and we needed more.
Nothing unusual about that.
Originally Posted by
qlabdad
We returned to the gate but were also told operations wanted to add passengers. Adding fuel took less than 5 minutes (I watched them do it) and boarding more passengers about 20. They added about 85 gallons (or whatever units used).
The weather had caused disruptions, so it appears that DAL ops proactively put more pax on your flight when they had the chance. This appears to have been a nominal decision.
I'm curious.... are they now installing fuel gauges at each passenger's seat? And if it were an 85-gallon upload (roughly 570 pounds), it would've taken longer than 5 minutes anyhow. Simply connecting the hose to the aircraft and dialing in the upload takes at least that long.
Originally Posted by
qlabdad
I found it completely unaceptable to delay the flight even further to add passengers, especially when it took so long. Unless there were other delays or issues we weren't informed of it appeared there was no concern for missing connections in IAH. We pushed back again then went to the runway and sat, and sat with no information.
The flight was already delayed; adding more pax appears to have done more good than harm. And you answered your own question: obviously there were more delays than you were aware of, because when the aircraft taxied back out, it had to wait a while longer to actually take off.
Originally Posted by
qlabdad
Many other planes were departing.
They weren't going to Houston.
Originally Posted by
qlabdad
We ultimately departed about 2.5 hrs late. The ironic thing is we got air born and in the decent 1/2 hr later the captain said we took the original route and had too much fuel and he dropped the landing gear at a high altitude to burn excess off. It was a terrible descent with the gear down due to noise and vibration at those speeds.
The crew was looking out for you and you still complain; they managed to get the shorter route to save time. Dropping the gear early is a prudent and safe method for burning off excess fuel.
Originally Posted by
qlabdad
I kind of suspect much of the delay was them trying to take the shorter route to save fuel but who knows.
You sure as heck don't.
And even if that had been the case, you also don't know whether any additional delay prior to takeoff was ultimately absorbed by the shorter flight time.
Originally Posted by
qlabdad
I completely understand weather delays
With all due respect: no, you don't.
Originally Posted by
qlabdad
but to add passengers is an unacceptable added delay as we could miss an opportunity to depart. I can't say this is the ultimate reason me and others missed connections but it demonstrated no concern from CO EXP either.
No such opportunity was missed, as you yourself mentioned earlier in your post. And the airline demonstrated a healthy concern for the pax who were enplaned during the fuel upload.
It truly is
your world. The rest of us, well, we just live in it.
Originally Posted by
qlabdad
Is this common? I've never been delayed and they've returned to add passengers making it worse.
Common to accommodate pax without inconveniencing others? I would hope so.
Originally Posted by
CO757
Jeez....many of you folks b*tch to much.
Amen.