I agree with Satellite Parking completely. If they made people who didn't arrive with enough time to spare miss their flight, the problem would be quickly solved, because most people would show up on time next time. They might need a few extra Airport Police for awhile to maintain order though
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Eugene:
Satellite Parking -- If you had your boarding pass and made it to the gate in time for the final boarding call, how did your seat assignment get given away???</font>
Although Satellite Parking said that his original boarding pass had no seat assignment, to respond to Eugene's question: On most airlines, if you're not physically present at the boarding gate 20 minutes prior to scheduled departure time, your seat assignments can be released. This is true even if you've checked in before that time elsewhere at the airport. The fact that you made it there prior to "final boarding" is irrelevant if this occurs less than 20 minutes prior to departure.
Also, some airlines are changing the 10-minute rule at which point your reservation goes away to 15 minutes, in order to give them extra time to do the Positive Passenger Bag Match for people that don't board.