Flew 3454 today, the UX E70 LGA-ORD segment. Blowing through security way too quickly today, I was at the gate T-35 (though the BP said T-25...making progress UX!). I was confused as the door was open and the gate area was virtually empty. I saw someone board and asked the GA if that pax was a nonrev or something...he said "no, we're boarding, the captain wants to leave early". So I got on the plane and was one of the last ones on...basically at T-30 at this point.

We ended up pulling out from the gate at T-18 (with the door shut a few minutes before that...all pax were on board, so I guess we were clear to shut the door. Makes me wonder though what would have happened if we were still 1 short...would they have stopped the world record pull-back time?

Quickest LGA-ORD flight ever - we were in the air at 3:57 for a 4pm scheduled departure (when does that happen at LGA?), the plane was only in the air 1:50 (crazy fast for westbound), and we landed an hour "early" (though we went to the penalty box for a bit).

So PO'd that I had to check my bag due to the over-eagerness to board, but I guess the pilot got the clearance for an early slot from ATC, so I supposed I'd be busting a move in that situation too.

Curious what others think about this...