Something similar happened to me a while ago.
The weather was somewhat similar as the one in BOS.I had done a walk around and seen the top of the wing from a step ladder.(Was a DC9)
Just a little light snow that was very easy to blow off and no ice underneath.
The captain came out and had a look.The de-icing coordinator came by and had a look at the wings and tail.
All three of us agreed de-ice was not required.Now I work for an airline where safety comes first and we felt no pressure to not de-ice or scared of causing a delay.Both of us are extremely safe and conservative pilots.
While boarding some pax mentionned to the in-charge the snow on the wings.
We explained to her that it was just a little light snow that wasn't adhearing,that both pilots and the de-icing coordinator had checked it out and determined de-icing not-required.
She came back to the cockpit 5 minutes later and told us that the back-end crew wanted to go to de-ice or they would walk!
So of course we went for a quick spray eventhough it was not required.I am sure that to this day those 4 FA's think that we were ''cowboys'' out to kill them.
I am not by any means a cowboy and some might say that I am wimpy when it comes to safety yet some guy might start a thread about Air Canada cowboys..
I just think that until we haer from the IB pilots involved we don't really know what happened and they might actually be very safety oriented guys.
On a last note I was in YVR the other night and waited 3 hours to de-ice.Lufthansa called to push...no de-ice required.Are they cowboys?No because who knows how long the acft was on the ground,did they land after the precip stopped, did the de-ice coordinator climb onto the wings and determine it was safe etc...