I was just checking the check in time requirements for various ariports on delta.dumb and noticed something that's news to me:

You are required to be at the gate and ready to board 45 minutes before scheduled departure time for international flights. [not an exact quote]

NOTE: This is for originating passengers, but if passengers are being offloaded, will the GA check whether someone is connecting or not?

Is this new? It was always 30 minutes AFAIK.

I also noticed that the information about check in and bag drop deadlines for someone taking a domestic flight that connects to international *seems to suggest* (but this isn't clear) that the deadline is one hour, just like if the first flight were an international segment. In fact, one interpretation of the 45 minute rule is that it would also apply to a domestic to international connection, but I can't believe that this is really what DL means.

Comments from the experts please?