Yesterday afternoon I flew XXX-ATL-BTR with the ATL-BTR segment being on DL5184 which according to the captain, and gate agents was delayed the 2.5 hours because of WX in BTR. However...

- 5184 was scheduled to depart at 6:17p. At ~4:30p it was already delayed until 6:55 due to late arriving aircraft.

- The late arriving aircraft was DL5200 (GNV-ATL) and I confirmed with DL phone agent that 5200 was delayed 1.5 hours due to MX.

- As the pax deplaned from DL5200, a DL Tech Ops employee went down the jetbridge and returned 15 minutes later. Flight was rolled back from 6:55p to 7:55p departure. Gate Agent making statements about weather and dispatch not releasing the plane. I will concede that the weather in BTR yesterday afternoon/evening wasn't pleasant, however...

- At 7:30p, DL 5137 departed ATL-BTR on time and arrived at its scheduled time.

- Captain comes out into the Gate House around 7:40p and says he'll leave when he's dispatched to do so, offers no explanation why a flight on the same route was dispatched and his wasn't.

- Tech Ops employee returns around 7:45p down the jetbridge. Flight departure rolls back to 8:15, at 8:15 it's rolled back to 8:45.

- At 8:30 the Captain comes back up the jetbridge, gives the all clear to board. And no sooner does the Tech Ops employee walk back up. As he passes me I ask him if he was working on the plane. He nods and continues walking.


Now I'd normally understand as this is good business practice to use a WX delay to perform routine maintenance, taking advantage of the plane's downtime. But given the late arrival due to MX and the additional flight (5137) taking off and landing without weather issues, I find the entire situation rather disingenuous.