American won't take any blame for their poor judgement
 

When my flight from LAX to Chicago landed 30 minutes before I was to board my flight to Baltimore, I asked for help from the AA rep. at the gate. She told me that she would call the AA gate where my Balt. flight would leave and tell them I was on my way. She said the Balt. gate was just down the hallway. It turns out that just down the hallway was a 20 minute RUN and I got there at 4:17, 5 minutes after the plane left. When I asked the AA gate rep. about her phone call he assured me that his co-worker never called. I was forced to wait 3 hours until the next AA flight left. I missed my ride from Baltimore because of this foulup. The most irritating part of this mess was that the pilot on the LAX to Chicago flight delayed our takeoff in LAX to allow us to view a new 380 Airbus the biggest airplane made, and to allow the airbus to take off first. I thought his first job was to be on time, not lead a sightseeing trip.

The FAA actually authorizes who takes off and lands. The pilots must adhere to that. The pilot was probably trying to make light of a negative situation. And yes, I agree, the pilots job is to try to be on time but not at the cost of safety. I am glad you were able to make a flight even thought it was a few hours later than planned.

airhead,
what purpose is served by saying you made a flight even though you were late? is it not beginning a race to the bottom.
on a related note, is your handle a coincidence?

antogeno: the purpose I am serving is allowing other readers as well as the original contributor to seeing the "glass half full." Nothing can be done about external factors, from a crew's perspective, about a flight being late. Hibby237 did not specify why the plane was late. But that person did mention that the pilot is responsible. I am pointing out the pilots wants to be on time just as much as the passenger. But the pilot has to ADHERE TO SAFETY. That should not take too much common sense to figure out what I am refering too.

It doesn't really matter whether the arrival gate agent called the departure gate agent. They cannot hold flights even if you think they should. Stop trying to guess why the flight was late, IT WAS LATE. Get

Except that I have actually experienced situations where a flight was held by United.. so how is this possible if

It happens, people know it happens, so why lie and say it can't. Surely what you mean to say is that the flight will only be held for the convenience of the airline, but not for the customer. At least be honest about it.