What I do not understand is why such a group of people can be on one plane. As a GM of a middle size company I cannot take the same plane with my CFO.
You'd be surprised how often this happens. On a tour of our Russian plants back in 2004, our travel agent was careful to ensure no more than 3 personnel were on the same flight... and then booked all 8 of us on the same minibus to the airport.