isayoldchap - As a multi-licenced line maintenance engineer i have a good idea as to what a pre-flight routine concerns, i was merely stating that it looks bad from a customer point of view and as i have not seen it happening at other airlines (even Ryanair) i wondered why it happened at Aer Lingus.
jonjoe - im not saying that flight crew are causing delays by boarding with the passengers, im just saying that it looks bad.
MCDU2 - believe me i have done more pre-flight, transit and daily checks to know what goes in to getting an aircraft ready for departure but your sarcasm is endearing. How does it work at outstations, say at Heathrow? Do you still find yourselves boarding with the passengers or have you more time? I'd be genuinely interested to know.