I experienced this comedy of errors in a big way. Things turned out ok.
In March, I was scheduled to fly on an Award ticket from Aus to LHR via DFW.

AA lost my seat assignment 2A on the LHR flight, but I eventually got 1A after too much drama that could have been avoided.

Anyway the flight from AUS arrived in DFW arrived on time. i had about 1hour 20 minutes. I got to the AC in terminal D. The gate area was already full of passengers. Boarding was supposed begin in about 35 minutes.

The AC offered me flagship dining. I said ok, but thought it would be rushed and I would be eating a mediocre meal on the plane. I went to the dining area and the meal was actually ok.

I realized that boarding was about to begin. I left the dining area and realized that there was no lane at the gate. I could see the gate/Tarmac area from the AC, but the waiting passengers downstairs could not.

The people in the AC were not aware of the plan. The boarding time and and went. The departure time came and went and the monitors still indicated on time. The plane was towed to the gate about 8:00 and then about 8:30-8:45 preparations for boarding stopped because the entire airport shut down for a thunderstorm.

The plane started boarding at 10:30 or so for what was supposed to be a 6:40 departure. I think the actual pushback was 11:30.

Anyway the monitors, The AC never had realistic times of departure. The thunderstorm was beyond AAs control. The planes maintence needs were not communicated.

Times posted kept coming and going. At about 10:20 the skies were starting to clear. AC had no info. I went for a walk in the main terminal, saw some FA head into the gate. A couple of minutes later, an announcement was made asking all passengers to report to the gate. I was basically in the area. As I walked up they started boarding.

whats going on at JFK? Wife was on AA #34 from LAX - JFK this past Thursday night. The flight landed on time yet she had to wait nearly 30ish minutes for a gate. Is gate space at a premium that late on a weeknight?

Doesn't seem especially noteworthy

so then 35 plus minutes waiting for a gate is the norm with AA at JFK when your flight lands on time? Interesting. Maybe AA should add an extra 30 minutes to the scheduled flight time and circle over the atlantic for those 30 minutes.

Good idea

better idea, how about AA getting their act together and figuring out how not to keep passengers on a plane 35 minutes after scheduled arrival time or, simply head on down to T4 where there is never a wait for a gate. ^

That's a little surprising. I wouldn't say it's the norm by any means because in reality T8 is utilized much less than T4 or T5. AA (and most airlines) already build in a ridiculous amount of extra time to their schedules so that they can still arrive 'on time' even with a significant delay. The reality is that JFK needs to be more heavily slot restricted to reduce frequencies on domestic flights and force airlines to use larger equipment with fewer movements. That's the only way to get the disaster that is JFK (and the rest of the NY airports for that matter) to operate relatively on time.

CMD, thanks for the well thought out reply. Although the flight left LAX late, it arrived close to on-time at JFK. She thought the flight and service was decent, her only beef was waiting 30 plus minutes at 9:30 at night for a gate.

"head on down to T4"? Like picking a men's room stall?

Yes because with banking of hubs there are a bunch of redeyes sitting at the gates waiting for departure.

If there were other delays earlier in the day, planes might be late getting off the gate for their outbound. The A/C for the low numbered gates is under renovations so they seem to prioritize the higher numbered gates. Don't know if any of these apply to that night. JFK is a difficult place to operate for many reasons.

yes, exactly!

so, exactly how many red eyes does AA really have out of JFK? I'd say maybe it was weather related but this past Thursday night was about a clear a night as you can get.

Check out this article and some of the quotes from Isom's letter to employees about the summer operation.....seems to blame weather on the operation this summer. I don't think these people get it, even this dude.

All of my issues (even going back to pre-summer), which were MANY, never had anything to do with weather just poor planning, bad maintenance and surprising last minute "discoveries" of issues with the plane which resulted in hours long delays.

https://www.thestreet.com/story/1369...n-falters.html

Hey, it works for LHR.