Originally Posted by
PRWeezer
Adding to the list, expanding on the above (in general, not specific to this flight)...Cue David Letterman:
10. For some reason a short (5-10 minute anticipated) wait became longer unexpectedly
9. Not every gate can handle every aircraft
8. Other/empty gates are staged for other flights (pax, bags, cargo)
7. Aircraft being staged for first flight out the next day
6. Jetway not operable
5. Computer issues at gates
4. Busy ramp could mean an even longer delay to get to another gate (more an issue w a concourse change)
3. Gatekeeper has too many other changes & some just have to wait. Early in the day yesterday ATL was a bit of a mess w weather, there can be a domino effect that impacts the operation for hours to come.
2. Crew wanted to be as close as possible to Chick-fil-a
(or the employee bus)
And the #1 reason a flight holds out for a gate in ATL...
Captain just really likes giving the "well folks, welcome to ATL" speech to say there's no gate
#10 - Believable
#9 - The flight from SFO-ATL around that time is operated by a 757 which (along with the M88) seems to have the most flexibility with regards to gates. Had it been a 767 I could see an issue as less gates are compatible
#8 - At 10:00 at night? Most of the planes arriving at that time are RON
#7 - If it was a 5 AM arrival I could see that but at 10:00 PM you are probably not dealing with a lot of prepping aircraft for next day and at that time there is still the flexibility to make all of the gate changes for the next day to accommodate the gate change of SFO-ATL before passengers show up
#6 - Believable
#5 - For an arriving flight that probably does not have much in the way of connecting pax? Who needs to see the screen of connecting gates if there are no connections and if there are a couple have the Gate Agent come on board and announce before they deplane
#4 - 10:00 PM is not exactly peak time
#3 - Once again the time of day does not seem to support this
#2 - ROFLMAO believable
#1 - At 10:00 PM I am sure the Captain just wants Chick-Fil-A or leave on the employee shuttle
Though the reason I would most likely believe is that with it mainly being RON at that time of night Delta wants to cluster each bank in a certain area to minimize staffing needs (for example having the next 5 arrivals as A1, A7, A3, A9, A5 so you can keep all personnel in that area)