Looking at the recent flights and trying to figure out a pattern here...
Seems like for the most part, AA87 LHR-ORD is
supposed to come in, sit around all afternoon and overnight, and then becomes the next morning's AA2180. But there have been quite a few instances lately, including today, whereby
today's AA87 is going to be AA2180. With a scheduled arrival of 1:30 PM there's obviously no way to make a 10:30 AM departure.
You might be able to tell ~24 or so hours in advance whether you'll be in good shape or not. E.g. per FlightRadar24, tomorrow's AA2180 is slated to be on N786AN, which already came in from London yesterday. Though that then begs the question... if that plane is sitting in Chicago already, why not use it for today's (already delayed) 2180?? Maybe it needs an extra day for maintenance.
Past few days worth of flights:
- Dec 11 :: LMT-LATE ARRV A/C DUE TO PRIOR MAINTENANCE DELAYS-E *0437
- Dec 10 :: MTR-DELAY DUE TO A/C MAINTENANCE-E *1357
- Dec 9 :: CRA-DELAY DUE TO CREW AVAILABILITY-E *1610
Not entirely sure what all to make of it, but if it's me I'd try looking at the scheduled flights and aircraft ~24 hours out. Or watching this 87/2180 pattern for a bit to see how it tends to pan out. If there's something obviously awry with the inbound aircraft maybe you could make a good case to an agent for some re-route.