[flojorn]

Not happy with US Airways. Our seats on a connecting flight were given away. Checking with customer service near the gate, I was told we needed to be at the gate 10 minutes before. We were.

We attempted to fly stand by 3 flights until our "confirmed" flight. I noticed at least once if not more, individuals arriving 10 minutes or a little under 10 minutes were still seated.

I did complain using the email address. I was told that our seats were given away 15 minutes before flight not 10.

Why didn't the agent see that our flight landed at a more distant gate? We ran from one end of the airport to the other. We made it in time. Well, not reallly.

My question: if the flight attendant and customer service at the airport say 10 minutes then why were are seats given away 15 minutes before?

[PHXFlyer]

From the US Airways website:

If you are not checked in and waiting in the boarding area at least 15 minutes before the scheduled departure time for domestic U.S. (30 minutes for international travel), your reservation may be canceled and you will not be eligible for denied boarding compensation.

Flight attendants aren't trained in airport procedures. They'll tell you to run no matter what the situation. Probably in the hopes that your connecting flight is also running a bit late. Possibly to get you off their plane so they can get on to their next flight, the hotel room, or home.

You say you were at the gate 10 minutes before however once the clock passes 15 minutes you're at the mercy of the gate agents working that flight. If they had already closed the flight and had final weight and balance numbers and printed the final passenger manifest then you're out of luck. Allowing you to board would mean re-doing all of that paperwork causing even more delay.

As for the other flights you did not successfully clear on standby, it's hard to say what happened there. Maybe they hadn't closed the flight out when those people arrived or perhaps OPS (the operations center) decided those flights could be held a couple of minutes longer without disrupting the schedule.

I was in Charlotte once after arriving on a red-eye and trying to get to Newark or any New York area airport for that matter. There was a winter storm and US Air had already canceled their flights to Newark and LaGuardia. I was on standby for a CO flight to Newark and Houston as well as on US to try to either get to NYC or back to Phoenix. For the flight to Houston they made 4 "final" boarding calls. The gate agent and I knew exactly who they were waiting for. A very disagreeable gentleman and his wife and kid who had left the gate area. He was just about to finally give away their seats when theycame running up to the gate. Where they were and why they left the gate area was beyond me but they got on the plane and off they went. The gate agent apologized to me but I agreed it was better for everyone that they get him out of the airport!