Originally Posted by
JimInOhio
When you add this all up, it might come out to this:
GA trying to get a flight out without further delay (it was an hour late). Passenger without seat assignment isn't in the gate area well after scheduled departure time and nearing cut-off time for boarding. GA thinks "This person without a seat isn't coming". GA gives away the seat to get the flight out without any more delay and liberally marks the passenger as no-show.
Except that the 1h delay of UA2018 had nothing to do with boarding. All were complete before the original departure time. I was at the gate at T-20 based on the originally scheduled departure. The atc/tarmac delay later was not a factor here.