Hi UAL777Flyer,
I think it's called stupidity--an utter lack of common sense.
I had the same exact thing happen to me a few years ago at ORD. Only it was on my beloved TWA. After traffic delays, I got to the gate just a couple of minutes before departure, having checked my bags through to London, via STL. I had asked the ticket counter to call the gate and advise them I was on my way. If it had been past departure time I would have understood. But it was a couple minutes prior. The agent, an AIC, was closing the jetway door as I got there. She absolutely refused to let me on and was quite *****y about it. The aircraft sat there for another five minutes. I explained that I was connecting to London in STL and would miss my connection and bags, forcing me to wait until the next day. I was also booked in First Class all the way to London. She couldn't care less -- take the next flight to STL. So that's what I was forced to do, arriving in STL just in time to see the London flight taxi out as we taxi in, with my bags in its belly.
So I went straight to the Platinum desk at STL (UAL equivelant is 1K) and when I got through with them here's what I demanded and got:
I was put on the next flight back to ORD. I was booked on a United non-stop the next day to LHR, in First Class. Don't forget, my First Class ticket on TWA was priced at what United charges for Business Class. The UA first ticket was something like $5000 one way. I don't know if TWA got stuck for the full amount, but I'm sure they didn't make any money on the deal. That Agent at ORD is the only TWA employee I have ever complained about. I was flying in and out of ORD twice a week, so I saw her all the time. She was sweet as pie after that. All the other agents there were ALWAYS sweet as pie. They'd see me in the check-in line and have my passes printed before I even got to the counter!
So that rude and thoughtless treatment toward a Platinum passenger not only cost TWA the premium revenue they were getting for a trans-Atlantic flight, they wound up giving it all and then some to United.
I also saw, a couple years back, at OAK an Alaska Airlines jet push back and start engines. It then sat out on the ramp a few minutes and shut off the engines, while an agent ushered two passengers out to the tarmac and boarded them through the aft stairway. Now that is probably going to the other extreme, but I'm sure those two passengers appreciated it.
Marky