The incident occurred when one of the women, who was carrying a Starbucks beverage, appeared to have miscalculated her time with an elaborate drink order. The video shows that the boarding doors closed 18 minutes prior to departure. The scheduled departure for Delta Flight 2267 was at 12:09 p.m., and the video timestamp indicates it was 11:51 a.m., which is indeed 18 minutes before departure.
Delta's policy typically involves closing boarding doors 15 minutes prior to departure unless all confirmed passengers are already on board. Thus, there may be validity to the women's claim regarding early closure if there were confirmed passengers not yet on board. The flight eventually departed at 12:06 p.m., three minutes ahead of schedule, and arrived in San Francisco seven minutes early at 1:22 p.m.
There are no indications that racism was involved in this situation. The Delta employees did not engage with these accusations and maintained their professionalism throughout the incident.
With four more Delta flights scheduled between Los Angeles and San Francisco later that day, it is hoped that the women managed to reach their destination despite this initial setback.