Weight and Balance matters
On trips with Ryanair from East Midlands to Carcassonne (France), there have been several occasions when seats at the front and the rear of the aircraft have been "blocked off". During the boarding annos, cabin crew have mentioned that the seating restriction is to do with the balance of the aircraft, and previous threads have seemed to confirm this. Is this also to do with the fact that Carcassonne doesn't have the longest runway in the world?
Now, my wife's boss, travelling from Malpensa (Italy) to Manchester with FlyBe earlier this week has had a similar experience. Once on board the Embraer aircraft, the Captain announced that because there was an issue with the aircraft trim (which he said he had never experienced before), he would need to leave 4 passengers behind.
Leaving aside the matter of the generous compensation offered in vouchers and cash, why would this action be necessary? The Embraer is not a particularly large aircraft, the runways at departure and destination airports are more than sufficient, so what exactly is the problem (in simple to understand terms please?)