Originally Posted by ENIAC
Had the same status message for a flight I was on. It meant "too many fat people with big bags to take off!" I decided to give the new CRJ direct DEN to MKE service a chance on my return. Picking my seat about a week out I noticed I was the only person in the premium part of the plane (the front 40% or so), so I suspect other elites are shunning it.
However, the plane was closed to full, maybe four empty seats. Then we sat at the gate for half an hour, which the chatty pilot said was while weight and balance things were sorted, and then taxied out to the runway. Then we were told that the temperature had increased (to the mid-80s I think, nothing amazing) and because the weight of the plane was already very close to the limit we were no longer allowed to take off. So we taxied back to the gate and waited.
Eventually, a GA arrived and appealed for five volunteers to fly on the Midwest direct flight, which was holding for for the purpose. She promised $300. So I took it, rushed to the other end of the concourse, and found the Midwest plane had already left, as had all Midwest personnel. I then rushed back again, and told the NW GA. She then sent us all back onto the plane, where we waited for things to cool down. Fortunately that happened fairly quickly in the end, so the flight was maybe 90 minutes late.
Looking around I did notice a pretty high proportion of signifcantly overweight people crammed into the tiny seats. And presumably the total lack of elites on this new flight translated into a lot of families checking big suitcases. But it wasn't even 100% full. Seems like another great reason to avoid CRJs. Anyway, when my wife checked the flight status online she said it was "Delayed due to accomodating passengers."
Be glad it was only 85 degrees in Denver, not 105. The problem with Denver is "Density Altitude" - esentially the air is thinner because of the altitude, but with an increased temperature, the air becomes even thinner. The air molecules become more distant and it becomes more difficult to obtain lift, as a result the weight has to be reduced to an acceptable level depending on the Density Altitude.
Over in the CO Forum, there is a post about removal of pax off from a 737-300 on a hot day. Someone had commented, doesn't DEN have a runway of 16,000 ft when they were speaking with the pilot. While they do have a 16k runway allowing for a long takeoff roll, the takeoff roll would be so long, and at high speeds that the tires on the aircraft would not be able to handle it safely.
DL has problems with Density Altitude (DA) at their SLC hub, primarily on hot summer days despite the altitude not being as high as DEN. For that specific reason, DL purchased the MD-90, nicknamed the "Mad Dog", which is a high efficiency model of the MD-88 allowing for "hot and high" departures at SLC.
On one last note, you'll notice many ultra-long-haul flights, even if departing at sea level, depart either late at night or early in the morning, especially in the middle east. Try passing through DXB in the middle of the night and that airport is full of activity. All my long-haul departures have been in the middle of the night. I have departed DXB during daytime hours, but that was for a shorter 5-6 hr flight (not sure if we were weight restricted or not in a 777-200, but I recall it being well over 100 degrees F outside).
In closing, be glad it was only in the 80's and not 105 degrees (which is rare for Denver) -- but a 105 degree day at DEN would really restrict the CRJ and would have an impact on operations airport wide, even on larger planes such as your 737s.
SDF_Traveler