Originally Posted by
JC5280
Both of these are legitimate. I have flown in to hubs where virtually everything has been delayed. But yes, airlines will sometimes hold aircraft for connecting passengers. Depends on the circumstances and downline situation and impact.
My ORD-YQR flight was held up because of late inbound passengers from MCO. A rebooking changed a 2-hour connection to 50 minutes, and we were 15 minutes late arriving atop that. As it turns, 37 of the 50 booked passengers on ORD-YQR were on that MCO-ORD flight.
I should point out that I and the other six people in my party were in our seats on the RJ 15 minutes prior to scheduled departure. If I'd known 30 others were taking their time I could have a slightly more restful walk to Terminal 2.
(I should point out that this was a roughly 5:30 pm departure, and the only flight of the day to YQR. Failure to make this flight would require UA to put up the passengers overnight and route them via DEN, or send them on the next day's YQR run.)