I wonder how much experience he has flying commercial. The seat maps aren't particularly accurate because some are under gate control, or some are inop, etc. He

I wonder how much experience he has flying commercial. The seat maps aren't particularly accurate because some are under gate control, or some are inop, etc. He could have probably estimated the chances of being at capacity based on the standby list and just the general attitudes of people hanging around the gate. A fully sold flight is almost certainly going to have standbys hovering to get confirmed. That should've been the clue.