[debiesta]

My flight out of Elmira NY was delayed....no surprise. When I inquired of the Airline Representative if my connection would wait for me when I arrived in Philadelphia, I was advised I would have to "run, don't stop and you might catch it". I was speechless. Sure enough, I was seated in the very last seat of the plane with my carryon stored under the plane. We arrived in Philadelphia 18 minutes prior to my scheduled departure. I was the last one off the plane and had to wait for my luggage and then get from Terminal F to Terminal C. I arrived at Terminal C gate 21 with 4 minutes to spare prior to the departure time. But, the ramp was closed and I was told "sorry you didn't get here in time." In tears I went up to the counter to be rescheduled. The Airline representative saw my plane still sitting at the gate which is now 10 minutes past my departure time. She called them to see if they would allow me to board and of course she was told no. Consequently I was 4 hours late arriving at my destination. I won't soon forget being treated with so little regard. No more US Airways for me.

[justme]

The very simple explanation for this is that the departure time is exactly that, DEPARTURE time. It's not the time they close the boarding door, it is the time that the flight is supposed to be pushing back from the gate. There is quite a bit of paperwork that has to be printed, and then the flight crew has to do some calculations for weight and balance and input it all into the airplanes computers. That is why the stop boarding 5 - 10 min (depending on the airline) before departure time. It gives the gate agent time to print everything, the pilots time to do their calculations and input them, and the FAs time to get everyone seated and their stuff stored. By the time all of this is done, the door is closed and the flight leaves on time. If they waited, even for just one passenger, this whole process would be delayed resulting in the flight being delayed. Yes, I agree it sucks that you missed the flight and were 4 hours late, but do you think it would have been fair to the other passengers on the flight to delay them to wait for you? It's a matter of weighing the benefits and consequences to delaying the flight. One unhappy person is not as bad as potentially hundreds. Hope that helps you understand why the doors are closed several minutes before the departure time listed on your boarding pass.