Great! That's what I'm trying to get my head around. But something just occurred to me (I promise I'm awake this time...)

Spatial time has something to do with the series, I think most can agree.

So, I'mm looking at this backwards.

Suppose the goal was not to GET these people on the same plane at the same time. They obviously ARE on the same plane at the same time, right?

So, if Desmond can see the future, who's to say someone can't see the past? Desmond WENT into the past.

Please bear with me... The plane crashes with all aboard. SOMEONE identifies the flight number and accesses the passenger manifest. SOMEONE identifies a portion of the passengers as "desirable" and they are placed on "the LIST".

Now, here is where it get's funky... To ensure that at some point in time that THESE people board THIS plane at the SAME point in time, SOMEONE goes into the past to manipulate or fine tune events to make this happen, making past outcomes dependent on how the present turns out. I suppose you could call it anti-time, or whatever.

That's how the Others have such detailed information on the Losties.

In any case, someone from Oceanic HAD to have had contact with the Others in order to get passport information. Didn't one of the flashbacks deal with someone supposedly involved with the flight behind the scenes?