So out of interest, in your opinions a A320 with a much heavier load than planned for would not have serious issues on takeoff?
In the incident I referred to, the first aircraft to depart was the lighter one, and apparently apart from a 'What the...' moment on takeoff there were no real issues. IIRC the load control documents were for the lighter load as there had been a barrow mix up on the ramp, so no-one knew the load was incorrect until takeoff, when the crew reported anomalies and someone stuck their head in the other A320
.
The people on the ground (the ones who goofed) were devoutly thankful that the heavier A320 had not departed first, as they seemed to think it may have been a bit hairy on takeoff, although the main RWY here is a 4F XXL model. They also thought the fuel consumption would have been greater and may have required a pit stop along the way. Is that a likely outcome? I'm not aware of the respective weights, but there was a reasonable difference, from memory about 60 pax versus a full load.
I've never flown anything bigger than a Cessna (and frequently ballsed up the wieght and balance exercises
) so I'd be interested to hear more.