justhere

A big part of the problem is that most people are conditioned that 1 or 2 minutes doesn't really make a difference. Two minutes late to the doctor? No one even says anything. Cashier at the grocery store chats with another customer and takes a minute or two longer before the next customer? Other customer probably didn't even notice. Two minutes late to the movies? Previews are still on, no big deal. Couple minutes late to the restaurant for dinner reservation? Perfectly fine.

Very few businesses are on as tight of a schedule as transportation companies. Most customers that are counting on their transportation to be on time, expect nothing less. So in people's everyday lives two minutes is nothing more than an extra person or two at the McDonald's drive-thru. Or an extra change of the lights on a busy street, etc.

How then can two minutes be that big of a deal that the plane cannot be held? People forget that the plane doesn't take off from the gate. That there are a number of things that need to be done before the plane can move. Before the plane can move the door has to be closed. Before the door can be closed...etc, etc. Let's say you are 3 minutes into those checks and now another passenger or 18 board two to four minutes before departure. Weight and balance changes. Checks may have to be restarted. Now you've got 3 or 4 minutes of checks and only 1 minute until departure. "How can the plane leave late, I was there two minutes before departure?" The line has to be drawn somewhere and you have to allow time for the "close up" process to occur.

And lest anyone thinks that two minutes really wouldn't make a difference. Read up on FedEx flight 705 and how just one minute made a difference. Once a crew times out, they are timed out. Doesn't matter if it's "just a minute or two".

Not saying that crew time out was the case for the OP. Just suggesting why people often seem to have difficulty with the concept that "the plane couldn't wait one more minute??"

IADCAflyer

In IRROPS situations, this may be true, but in a lot of situations, the issue of crews timing out simply isn't relevant. If it is then AA has a major crew scheduling problem. In my case last year, there were IIRC 7 or 8 of us connecting from SEA via LAX to SAN. There were passenger boarding delays and baggage delays in SEA which caused a good 30 minute delay departing SEA. Then there was a delay getting an available gate at LAX. The weather at LAX was perfect for August - clear, warm, no wind issues, etc.

The flight in question that I missed was a 30 minute flight from LAX to SAN and was the last flight of the night. That Embraer will RON in SAN before returning to LAX at either 6:30 or 7:30 the next morning. No passengers were making connections and the flight was not in any risk of being delayed.

So, instead of holding a flight - and lets remember - we're not discussing holding a flight for an extended period time. We're talking about a flight that was still set to depart on its scheduled departure time. The flight departed and 7 passengers had to be endorsed over to United at a cost of about $150 per ticket. Getting out at T-0 is one thing, but then having to fork over $1000+ in money to another airline seems somewhat foolish.

enviroian

mvoight

You heard wrong if you are suggesting they are getting bonuses for boarding at T-45 and closing the door at T-20.

Yachtman

Is there not a central operations centre for AA that monitor and control these decisions? I know its a different setup, but having watched the documentary about Emirates in Dubai, they have people whose sole purpose is to actively monitor the transfer situation and delayed inbounds, then make the call whether to hold an aircraft or rebook based on a number of factors.

Mwenenzi

As you have noted the departure time is not the cut off for passengers boarding and the crew then completing the paperwork.
Late departures can cascade and have others effects as posts above

LonghornDXB

Same exact thing happened to me back in 2003 when I was a UT student, except that I was flying in from ORD.

50+ AUS passengers overnighted at DFW, with 30 of them having breakfast at the McD closest to the gate ...

So if it is any consolation, this has being going for decades at DFW...

GUWonder

CloudCoder

Exactly right. AA can decide to strand a bunch of passengers, and the decision costs them nothing. The passengers bear the entire cost of the misconnect: lodging, meals, etc. When decision-makers have no stake in the outcome, it's a recipe for bad decisions.

aztimm

And this is where common sense comes into play. If AUS was their final destination, I'd be willing to bet it was cheaper for a one-way rental car than a night in a hotel (plus any incidentals and the additional time away). The DFW-AUS drive is still within reason for most people.
I priced a one-way rental with Hertz last year when it almost happened to me, and the cost was less than $100. But in the end I was able to get out on a different flight.

This certainly isn't the case for DFW-GJT, where it is still a very long drive.

aaupgrade

This would be my bet.

thunderlounge

Exactly. I’m driving to AUS vice staying overnight at DFW most of the time.

Allan38103

It's an Operations decision after considering all of the factors. If it were important enough, the flight would have been held.

Apparently the flight wasn't important enough to hold. Stuff happens.

nrr

(1) Sometimes the haste to depart on time can "backfire": I was on a flt from jfk to zrh, a GA was on board trying to sort out pax and seat assignments. At T-5 an announcement (over the PA) was made [by purser(?)], "ground personnel we are nearing take-off time...please depart the plane". The GA left the plane, the doors closed promptly and we began taxing to runway for t/o; BUT, they realized the actual pax on board count was in "error", we returned to the gate...the Captain announced 10 minutes later: "we have now sorted out the discrepancy...we are now ready to depart:" With taxing out and back and the delay at the gate, we departed 1 HOUR late, had the GA (who was shooed off the plane at T-5) been allowed a little extra time, we would have departed 5 minutes late instead of 1 HOUR.
(2) For the last flight of the day from A to B, Draconianly adhering to precise departure times is (in general) not prudent,

3Cforme

Lots of crews - D O Z E N S of crews - will time out in a big hub on a heavy weather day. How many E75 crews do you think Envoy has on ready standby at DFW?