So I think I am the 'lucky' one who had such crazy thing happening on my flight. But one thing is ID (staff) passengers always come late before door closes. And also each of them carries their own luggage which is legal and reasonable same as every passenger as does. Last time I was the very last passenger getting on a flight from San Francisco to Houston and got the boarding pass just at the gate not even in the checkin counter. It's just how airlines work for discounted tickets.