The problem with the number of stbys you're seeing is that all of them will be behind the applicant, as the applicant flies at a higher priority than any nonrev. Not to mention many of the stbys are confirmed elite passengers waiting for an upgrade, who already have Y class seats. They skew the numbers each time.

As for the seat map, it's not all that accurate because NWA will release on the day of departure seats that appear to be occupied today. It gives you only ballpark numbers and isn't the best way to gage the loads of a flight. The best way to see if a flight is full is to use the nonrev number combined with the nwa.com/nrev. The best obviously is looking at PARS to tell the real story.