Airlines and the people who work for them understandably prioritize safety as a number one objective.
This is generally understood by passengers who entrust their lives to the flight crews and others who operate the airplanes.
DON'T MISS: Why Southwest, American, And Delta Airlines Should Be Worried
Travelers from the Spanish island of Lanzarote to Liverpool in the U.K. had a recent experience that resulted in 19 of them leaving the aircraft before it could take off.
They were each paid 500 euros ($548.50) to make other travel arrangements because the EasyJet airplane had too many passengers on board to safely navigate the airport's relatively short runway.
TikTok user Ryan Williams captured the moment the pilot made an unexpected announcement.
@razza699 This is madness 🙈🙈😱#fyp #easyjet #lanzarote #Liverpool #johnlennon #Airport #holiday #flying
♬ original sound - Ryan Williams
"Thank you all for getting here," the pilot was heard saying. "Because there are so many of you, it's a pretty heavy aircraft we've got today. That heavy aircraft, combined with a fairly short runway here in Lanzarote and some winds which aren't completely favorable at the moment, mean that with the current environmental conditions here in Lanzarote, the aircraft is too heavy at the moment to depart."
The pilot offered some more information about the flight crew and the conditions causing the problem.
"Now, I've been sat with Tom, my senior first officer in the flight deck," he said. "We're very experienced with this. We've done this before. We've been doing our very best to make an attempt as safely -- obviously with safety our number one priority -- safely as possible."
"There's no way with the current wind conditions, the environmental conditions here in Lanzarote, that we can make this aircraft get airborne at the moment," he continued. "As I say, a combination of factors, it's very hot, that doesn't help, the wind isn't fantastic, the direction's not great, that's not helping either."
Passengers Are Asked to Voluntarily Leave
The pilot then began to explain the plan for how to proceed, including what the airline would be willing to offer passengers for help.
"Now, you might be wondering what's next and that's what I've come here to say," he said. "I've spoken to our operations team at EasyJet. Of course the one way to solve a problem with a heavy aircraft is to make it slightly lighter."
"If possible, I'd like to ask for up to potentially 20 volunteers to choose not to fly to Liverpool tonight," he suggested. "If anybody does want to do that, if anybody does want to volunteer, there will of course be an incentive for you to do that."
"I know something that we'll be able to let you know about," he continued. "The current number that we've been approached by EasyJet is that there are ways to offer up to 500 euros per passenger that's willing to not fly tonight. I appreciate you may have lots of questions, but that's the information."
The practice of voluntary "denied boardings" are a fairly common occurrence, but they usually occur because of flights that are oversold.
In the U.S., Delta Air Lines (DAL) -), American Airlines (AAL) -), Southwest Airlines (LUV) -), United Airlines (UAL) -) and Spirit Airlines (SAVE) -) have the highest number of voluntary denied boardings, according to a Department of Transportation survey.
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