I hate to state the obvious, but I suppose many aren't familiar with hub ops. The vast majority of pax at a hub are making connections, so arrival gate is pretty much irrelevant...especially since almost every gate is used in a bank, and many are used overnight. It's a zero sum game for pax. I can give them a close gate (to the terminal/employee shuttle), or I can give them a far away gate and give another plane the close gate.