was the flight oversold? Did everyone in the boarding area seem to have a few bags with them? Were there delays at the airport for this agent to request bags to be checked?
kudo's to the agents for trying to be proactive in getting the flight out on time.
Yesterday, I finished a flight and landed at JFK at 2:30pm. We had the Chief pilot flying our 767 into Kennedy during the high winds, and I will say, it was extremely turbulant upon landing, but he glided the plane right onto the runway.
Because of the high wind alerts that were out, I knew that my 4pm LGA departure to ORD was going to be delayed. (guessing that the airport was going to be using only 1 runway for takeoff/landings...I was right)
Got to LGA and found out that my 4pm was delayed until 6pm, and the 3:15 was delayed until 5:15, however, the 5pm was still on time. I quickly loooked at the computer and saw that I could standby for jumpseat on the 5pm and get home early.
Finally, the plane arrives and it's deplaning....and I ask the agent if I could board with the crew. Fine. Once down on the plane, I remember how many people were in the boarding area and remembered how chaotic it was...everyone trying to get on an earlier flight to make their connection in ORD.
So, I told the F/As that I was going to help boarding at the gate, and so I 'plucked' the tickets and ran them through the EGR. I tried to watch as many bags as I could, but fortunately, there weren't too many oversized bags. After many of the pax boarded, I told the agent I was going to check on bags.
Once I turned the corner to the jetbridge, people were backed up...all standing around not moving. So I went back to the gate and told her that we might have to check a few bags, people were still lined up on the bridge.
After another five minutes, we both went down to the plane, and fortunately, EVERYONE was able to get their bags on board. Even this one guy who I thought we were going to have to check his large garment bag (those new ones that just don't fit properly in O/Hs) we were able to slam the bin closed with it in...
However, this whole flight could have been different if people didn't properly fill the O/H bins. As I was walking back tot he jumpseat and closing bins on the way, I noticed that everyone had placed their bags wheels first, most smaller bags were placed under seats, and coats/jackets were placed on top or around larger bags. Everyone did what they were suppose to do.
On the other hand, I have been on flights (commuting home) where after the first three groups, there had been no room for anymore bags because people the people who boarded only thought about themselves and no one else and refused to move their bags or small bags out of bins.
So again, Kudo's to the agents for being proactive in trying to prevent a delayed flight.