Flight was going from Salt Lake to Orlando and would arrive late at night, so there were no connections people were trying to catch and I'm sure they could make up 5 minutes on a 3+ hour flight. Ironically, when I finally did leave Salt Lake, we sat on the runway for 20 minutes, so that flight needed to make up 20 minutes of air time.

What's the cutoff of # of people? Beats me. I would say 1. I wouldn't say it is the # of people that should affect their decision, but the amount of time. Knowing you have a 3+ hour flight and need only to wait 5 extra minutes when you are going to sit on the runway anyway, seems like a rational decision to go that extra mile for a customer or 15?

Cost to Delta per person: $30.00(meals) + $50.00(hotel) + $200.00 (flight vouchers) = $280.00 x 15 = $4200.00 of direct cost.

What is the penalty for them to delay the flight? It affects their on time rating? Do they get a monetary penalty?