I don't have any insider info on this flight, but I agree it looks likely to be a crew timing issue, unless DSM has a curfew (or NOTAM that night?) that I'm unaware of.
Originally Posted by
jsloan
I don't recall whether or not they managed to get hotels; I feel like the layover was a few minutes too short. (There's something in the FA contract that provides hotels for overnight duty periods if the time between flights is such-and-such).
IIRC, a sit time*
scheduled longer than 4 hours gets a hotel room. It's always a fun time telling the front desk "yeah we leave in 4 hours, we'll need the van" -- the look of confusion on their face is amusing.
*- Sit time is what crew generally refer to time between flights, and layovers are overnights. I don't know why the parlance is different for crew vs passengers.