Back to flying AA ... Because contract fares. First intl trip on AA since. Inbound to ORD late (no gate avail) and missed my flight to FCO. While waiting for a gate, Platinum Desk declined to protect my resv ... Saying "we don't do that anymore." Is this true?

What should have been a simple, re-book my paid 'J' resv and Alitalia connection for tomorrow, occupied 3 AC reps for 40 mins. It was obvious that intl and interline was beyond them. They did rebook ORD:FCO, but cancelled everything beyond FCO, including my return.

Was I just having a run of bad luck? Or, have Platinum and AC rep skill/abilities erroded in the past 4 years?

Explained my situation to a tkt agent at the F/J/Platinum counter outside security ... And asked who is the ticketing goddess that can unwind messes made by well intentioned others? She returned with "Michelle." Michelle rocks. It took her ~30 mins to rebuild the deleted segments on AA, Alitalia and Maroc.