Originally Posted by snaxmuppet

I feel for all the passengers delayed by these DYKWIAs and in now way do I criticise the OP for the rant... I would have done the same!

However, there are a couple of issues here that IMO should be addressed by the airline if they are to reduce/eliminate this kind of behaviour.

HBO fares seem a sensible way to allow a cheaper fare for those that can do without checked baggage but this will only ever properly work if the hand baggage rules are consistently enforced. I have travelled on two TP runs recently HBO and there wasn't a flight when it was obvious that people had hand baggage that was oversized or with too many items. While people can get away with getting on board with hand baggage that simply should have been checked then they will always try it on.

The issue of a single iPad being not in flight-safe mode delaying the aircraft at all is laughable IMO. On a few occasions I have accidentally left my phone in normal mode (I am normally very good at turning them off BTW!) and I have seen people actually using their phone to make calls whilst we take off. I am 100% convinced that on every flight it is highly likely that there will be some phones or tablets not in flight safe mode both in the cabin and in baggage. I am not convinced that the captain would have been too bothered by one iPad and I suspect that there is more to this delay than meets the eye... Just my opinion - or am I wrong about how electronic devices can or cannot affect on-board systems? If it was that important there would be a way that the flight crew could determine if there is any devices not in flight-safe mode. It seems to me not to be so important nowadays.