Originally Posted by rucksack

There's little more frustrating than a rolling delay, but having a delayed departure moved back up is arguably worse. I can't say that AA has the best intentions with their practice of rolling delays, but equipment swaps and replacement crews can get a flight back on track when a flight otherwise would have had to wait for the inbound aircraft or crew. So from that perspective, I can understand not wanting to delay a flight solely based on where the incoming aircraft is.