A320 - "No gate checking will be allowed due to weather"
On this morning's ONT-PHX the GA just made an announcement that "due to weather we will be weight restricted and unable to check any bags at the gate. Once the overheads fill up we will be required to deny boarding to passengers with carrying baggage."
I've never heard anything like that... The fuel load for a 350 mi flight can't be that much and I can't imagine everyone's checked baggage could weigh more than a full fuel tank.
So is this a scare tactic to get people to stow bags quickly? Did they take on a pallet of lead cargo? Or is there a weather reason why they would allow checked bags at the ticket counter but not at the gate at all and would deny boarding on an A320?