My flight eventually took off about 90 minutes later than scheduled, and I hurried to try to make the connection. Unfortunately, the train inside the Dallas airport (it's American's main hub, and American is the overwhelmingly dominant carrier there) was partially broken and only running in one direction, so the train took the long way around, greatly slowing my ability to make the connection. Still, I hustled to the gate and got there two minutes before the rescheduled departure time except ... the door was already closed. The plane, however, hadn't actually left the gate, and there were about a dozen other people outside with me. Normally under those circumstances, an airline will reopen the door to avoid the expense and inconvenience of rebooking everyone, but not this time—the pilot just jetted away.
As if the pilot had any control over the boarding process. Even if the Captain had attempted to use command authority to reopen the doors to let the late pax on, the rest of the pax and the gate agents (read: the company) would have accused the Captain of a work action by causing the flight to be delayed further.
Hog