Originally Posted by
Arsey00
While I'm sure it's lovely to depart (and possibly arrive) early for staff and pax on the plane already, I find it deplorable that a passenger should face costs when the airline decides to close boarding earlier than stated. It happened to me once (on AA, though) and no amount of complaining got me back the money I paid for three people to get the next flight. I wish you luck.
I certainly do not look at it that way. Here is a very likely scenario that I have worked a few times:
Incoming thunderstorms that will last 2 hours and bring the airport to a standstill
Captain decides he wants to leave early
Make several announcements
Board all in gate area
At T-20 (at least at AA and I'm sure at BA) we have the right to offload pax
As a pax, I would much rather we leave a few behind (because of their lack of planning) and get away before the storm delays x amount of people. As a gate agent, I would much rather make sure x amount of pax get off and in the air (and make their onward) connections than have them inconvenienced due to a few stragglers.
Of course this has to be within the airline's rules (i.e. T-20).
It is a somewhat unfortunate situation to the pax that were not at the gate on time but that, technically, is their own fault. Of course good agents and airlines will do their utmost to help out the tardy passenger.