Thank you @British_Airways for having staff in the lounge who can actually get real answers to questions about why flights are delayed. My next flight is delayed because they can't get people thru checkin fast enough, which at least means this probably won't get cancelled.

That's insane... Not common, though, is it? this is the first time I have ever heard this reason for a flight to be delayed. normally it's a mechanical problem in my personal experience.