I've got to chime in with a pro-AA voice here...

In case any of you DFW regulars haven't noticed, the gates are VERY UNDERSTAFFED since 9/11. Where once upon a time during peak times you could find every A, B, and C gate manned with at least one gate agent, now we frequently have gate crews rotating among three or four gates. This is usually a more effcient use of personnel resources (as fewer members of the traveling public are actually checking in at the gates these days), but when flights get delayed in arrival/departure, it also frequently results in the agent crew working two or three inbound/outbound flights at the same time. For this reason, the gate crews seem more hell-bent than ever on getting passengers on planes as quickly as possible (such as the full DFW-LAS flight I had last week where the agents decided to board First AND ALL Groups at one time).

When these agents are working two or three adjacent gates, they often have to finish up with the passengers they are handling (either in the check-in line or who are boarding) before they can shift over to the next gate. Again, if any flights are delayed or early, it can disrupt the work of one agent group trying to work three or four gates.

I think it is wrong to blame the gate agent's communication skill for the sudden gate changes you experienced. Anyone who has been in DFW on a day of delayed inbound flights has gone through this routine before. The gate agents aren't responsible for determining which equipment you were going out on and those coordinating the flights aren't just looking at your flight, but as well where that equipment is needed later in the day or next day for OTHER flights to run on time, what equipment can be used to replace it, etc.

I think the only person who really deserves blame here is the pilot for making such an inappropriate statement. Frankly, I've grown a bit tired of pilots who start making comments about the DFW ground crews when we arrive early and don't have a gate to pull into (and those of you who live here and have to deal with this weekly understand those 20 or 30 minute holds I'm talking about). At the least, I grow annoyed with pilots who hype up the cabin by talking about how early we are and then blame the reason we will be "on time" on the ground crews. PLEASE - everyone knows that the DFW schedule has these 20 or 30 minute waits built in to the flight times.