Good questions. Thank you for your responses.
>>How do you know the late arriving passengers were employees?
I knew the late arrivals were employees (or assumed they were) because they were dressed in NWA uniforms. Plus they all boarded at exactly the same time after a 20 minute wait by the rest of us.
>Is it possible that since the flight was already delayed due to close out procedures
We weren't late already, according to the captain, who initially said we would be pushing away from the gate in a few minutes.
>>the weights onboard have to be reported for recalculations.
We were not a full flight until the late-arriving passengers boarded. Perhaps at that time a re-calibration of weight was necessary--a delay again attributed to waiting for these late passengers.
>>IT WOULD NICE IF AIRLINES ALLOWED MORE TIME BETWEEN FLIGHTS FOR PASSENGERS AND EMPLOYEES TO DO THEIR JOB. I get 20 minutes to deboard passengers and luggage and board new ones. Not much time when dealing with 100 passengers.
I sympathize with you on that one. However, I have been aboard several NWA flights that were running late where the flight crew actually asked for a show of hands of who had close connections. Then they asked other passengers to wait until those people had first crack at getting up to leave the aircraft. It worked very well, and I was among those who was willing to allow others to go first. In another case on NWA, the passengers actually requested that the flight crew announce this. They did, I was in a hurry and it made all the difference in the world. it's still the same 100 passengers deplaning, just in a different order.
At no time were any NWA employees rude or inconsiderate, but I was told a few things that made me believe I was not going to miss my connection. They turned out not to be true.
Thank you again for your response.
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