Had a long day on UAL. Woke up on time in the morning in ATL, got to the airport fine, got through the insane security line—I knew how long it would take from my
Navigator Cup experience (
"This sure is a long line..." "No, sorry m'am, it's sure a paranoid government..."). Got to the gate and the door was closed.
Apparently the new UAL policy is to close the door at least 10 minutes before departure, regardless of what's going on outside, and for the rest of the day (they did put me on priority standby) I observed the policy uniformly enforced. Reminds me of the
underwear gnomes. Step 1: close the door.