But that's not what happened here. So many keep trying to point to non-sequiturs or examples of CRM or lack thereof that they think apply and actually don't in this situation, only demonstrating further how many on this forum don't know what CRM is and how it actually works in various situations. In your example, what you have is a case of a Captain needing a "Go" from everyone (the GA, dispatch, all flight crew, etc.) prior to departing. The FA voicing an objection due to smelling alcohol is not giving the "Go" for departure so the plane is going nowhere (unless the pilot truly takes actions into his own hands, in which case the Captain would have more problems than just the alcohol on his breath and yes, the FA should take further action to get proper authorities or prevent the aircraft from departing). In this case that is the subject of the thread, the FA was thinking she had the opposite power - that she could allow passengers to board or allow them to stay onboard despite not having an okay from all required personnel who must give the okay to have passengers on the plane. The Captain made a decision. His "no-go" was enough for people to get off, especially because the aircraft was parked at the gate, with a jetway attached to the plane. It's not like passengers were going slides here. And given that it was one that resulted in no danger - as I've previously mentioned, it was a more conservative decision with regards to safety. If Ops thinks the decision was wrong, then they can work that with pilot. But at this point, it wasn't the FA's call. It was the Captain's. Whether the FA thought it was wrong or not should have stayed between her and the Captain and been discussed between her and the Captain in private or with the appropriate department within DL's organization, not to the passengers.

I don't always agree with the decisions of my chain-of-command but unless it's an illegal order, I'm expected to follow those orders. It would be completely unprofessional of me to say "I don't agree with this - don't do it" to others in my organization or even just say "I don't agree with this" to other members of my organization. This undermines leadership and also undermines the relationship between me and my leadership and only results in more harm than good, both short term and long term. In this case here, the FA, despite not agreeing with the Captain's decision, should have come on the jet and simply said "Ladies and gentleman, the Captain has ordered everyone off the plane for XXXX reason. Please collect your belongings and deplane. More information will be provided when it becomes available and DL agents will be available to assist you with rebooking options if you require".