The airport manager I mentioned was identifiable by a high vis that said "Duty Airport Manager".
When I mentioned passengers being involuntarily de-boarded, that is exactly what I mean.
There was an announcement looking for passengers who would volunteer to be on the flight the next morning. These passengers would be paid compensation. After we were the only ones who volunteered, the staff then picked those at the back of the queue for the plane to be taken off the flight. They had no choice.
There were perhaps 20-30 passengers. I do not recall the exact number. The flight operated.
Apparently the flight could not operate will a full flight because there were too many passengers to staff available.
Fair enough so. The only quibble I would have is
that the duty airport manager is highly unlikely to have been an employee or EI and therefore may jot have had the requisite authority to offer compensation.
Having said that EI should certainly pay up. They can’t claim weather issues if the flight actually operated.