Well done. Gate agent gets creative to make sure flight pushes on time
 

On a recent LAX-ORD redeye, the plane was very fully and there appeared to be many passengers carrying much of their lives with them.

The gate agent announced that given the load and the number of carry-ons, it was likely that in the end some would have to be checked -- but waiting to do so when that became evident would delay pushback.

So she announced that anyone who wanted to check his or her carry-ons could do so with no charge. A number of folks took her up on it, and we indeed pushed early.

Well done. ^

Is there a chagre for checking a bag at the gate? Never heard of it. For anyone.

Or was that her "creative" way? :confused:

Yes, I've seen agents charging non-status folks to check bags at the gate.

Yes, creative. The infrequent flier can be made to believe anything.
Imo, it was a well worded statement that wasn't a lie.

How come we didn't put this in the UA Employee General Appreciation Thread? ;)

Sorry to take the contrary mode here, but why should people who planned on carrying on (E or not) get sucked into checking? And again, given you have to be on-board much earlier than pushback, so don't see it delaying pushback. And when are you allowed to push back early unless there is a weather reason? I see this as an agent who just didn't want to deal w/ everything last minute him/herself so decided to 'con' the flyers. BTW - if you're elite, even if you do gate checking you're not charged. And there was no way the GA could have known who would take him/her up on it. Last I saw, the gate wasn't really set up for additional charges, even w/ the new policy. Not saying it's not the case, but again, I don't see the kudos on this one. And I'm usually the first to give kudos.

Cheers.

Some people might be carrying on because they didn't want to pay checked bag fees, but when it's free would feel like they would rather check their bag (and perhaps not have to lug it through their connecting airports). That's not something I would do, but I'm sure some people would.

If all checked-in passengers are already on board and it's within 20 minutes of scheduled departure, I believe they are allowed to push back early, since there's little to no benefit in waiting.

Amazing. :(

To repeat: the gate agents couldn't have been better. They were trying to get the plane off on time. It was clear to anyone who flies at all that with the hoard of folks with too many carry-ons that was not likely to happen.

And so we were likely spared a thread about what how what some folks enjoy calling "gate lice" making a plane late. ;)

And, what cepheid said.

And I'm still not saying 'good on ya' to the GA because s/he didn't know who would/wouldn't & made it sound as those who didn't would automatically get charged.

I get why s/he did it, but think s/he was misleading & not appropriate. Also, was the flight late coming in? Was the turn shorter? Given most flights board 30 minutes early, was there a reason to think that that wouldn't be enough time to put stuff in overhead - or for the stragglers (which is the norm; they usually get their stuff gate-checked & on all the flights I've been on we've still managed to take-off on time). I get pro-active. I'm a bit leery of how pro-active is applied, and think saying folk would automatically get charged is not the way to do it.

My understanding is that the push-back is not something the GA decides, but ATC (or is that ground control?). Whichever - GA closes the door & after that, GA is NOT responsible for push-back.

If the plane isn't boarded with everyone sitting down, the plane can't push.

So, they don't decide when to push, but they can surely help delay pushing -- or make it more likely that it will be able to push on time.

Tell that to Sen. Vitter, or rather to the IAD GA's.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/newss...l#post11400358

oranges & tangerines. and if you think the fa's are going to let passengers still do their thing when it will screw up timing, then you do them a dis-service. i've been on too many flights where even w/ gate-check while on the plane still means the plane goes off on time.

and you're still missing the main point about the threatening ALL carry-on passengers w/ the threat of a fee... Which is actually my problem w/ this scenario. Not the pro-active approach which I'm ok w/, just how it was applied.

cheers.

I like that she made it optional. I've been a victim of the forced gate-check (when boarding with Group 3). When I got on the plane, I found plenty of room, I went back out to get my bag. Naturally, the FAs wouldn't let me on the plane with it because it had a tag. :rolleyes:

Optional works for me. Telling folk they'll be charged though when it may not be true: Not so much. It's really that that bothers me more than anything. Otherwise I probably would be in the
'good on ya' category.

BTW - I'm in the category of won't be charged, but still...

Cheers.

I would argue that it has nothing to do with 20 minutes (although I am not expert on regulations), but more likely with slot availability. There is no way they would push you back if there was no departure slot available for you.

I have personally experienced many early push backs (of course many less than delayed:D) and I am sure one of them was more than 30 minutes on long haul flight.