DJ875 Airbridge issue in Sydney tonight

[Darren Butterworth]

Hi - I returned to Sydney tonight from a usual Melbourne over-nighter, DJ875(VH-VUN) just after 7pm.

I was in 12F, they disembarked the last few rows from the rear door, then held the rest of the rear door passengers for a few minutes then let them go and held everyone from overwing forward for another 5-10min (seemed longer at the time) before letting everone out the back.

The airbridge was not touching the aircraft and we were told that they had noone to operate it??

I thought it wouldn't be too hard to find an operator? Just something unusual from the normal flights that you do as a matter of fact.

Anyone know the issue?

[Nigel C]

What bay?

There are times when periodic maintenance needs to be done on aerobridges that takes more than just a curfew period. You probably ended up on one such bay...no big deal. You'll probably find that this is more the case.

[Daniel M]

Quite possible that there were staff shortages, particularly if a few flights were arriving at once.

In regards to the disembarking procedure, the 737 cannot bet boarded or disembarked from the rear only, as there is a high risk of the aircraft tipping on its tail with the weight of all the people moving towards the back, and no weight in the front. The most likely reason they kept everyone at the front for 5 or 10 minutes, was so the ground crew could unload all bags from the rear hold, thus reducing the tail weight, allowing the remaining passengers to exit through the back.

Cheers

[Darren Butterworth]

Thanks Daniel - That makes perfect sense.

[Zac M]

In Hobart last year they boarded everyone on my flight through the rear door. No idea why. It was a 737-700.

[Adam G]

In Hobart last year they boarded everyone on my flight through the rear door. No idea why. It was a 737-700.

They were probably trying to seat special service guests (wheel chairs etc) up front of the aircraft during the initial boarding so elected to board through the rear only. It happens at times, especially at full stand off airports.