[Tom Hutchison]

Flight 1104 was prepared to leave Nashville on time at 10:15, Saturday December 6. Just before we pulled away from the gate, and after the pilot had announced an eminent departure, the plane just sat there. After about 10 minutes, the pilot announced that there was a delay due to some paperwork issues and joked that “as soon as the paperwork equals the weight of the plane” we will depart. We waited another 10 minutes, with no one boarding the plane, and then several NWA employees and perhaps a passenger or two boarded the plane until it was full. At one point the flight crew was counting empty seats and relaying the information to someone outside the aircraft. Then we departed 35 minutes late. The pilot announced that we would be 1 hour and 10 minutes in flight to Detroit.
The flight ended up getting to the airport 30 minutes late. During the final decent, the flight crew was unavailable to answer questions about missing connections. When the plane landed, they did announce there would be agents standing by to assist with connections. There were no agents. I missed my connecting flight so that NWA could fill empty seats in Nashville with their employees wanting a ride to Detroit. NWA had cancelled the later flight to Bangor and re-booked me on a flight to Bangor the following afternoon. I missed a day of work, missed an important work-related event, and my reason for traveling in the first place.
At the Detroit airport, I was told the delay was due to weight problems on the plane and the fact that they had to take on extra fuel because of the weather. There was no refueling. There was no weight issue because the plane was not full until they decided to hold it to accommodate late-arriving people (passengers or employees).
My attempts to contact their customer service since then have been futile. The endless recordings, menus, hold-times, and ultimate hang-ups have left me no choice but to file formal complaints against the airline.