The College Football Playoff semifinal sees #6 Ole Miss Rebels against the #10 Miami Hurricanes outside Phoenix on Thursday evening. It’s the ticket to the title game, and Wednesday was cross-country travel day for fans of both teams. Flights and connections get tight and people are desperate not to misconnect.
ESPN and Old Miss broadcaster and SuperTalk Mississippi radio host Richard Cross was trying to get to the game, along with scores of other fans, on American Airlines connecting flights through Dallas. But their inbound from Memphis was delayed and it looked like a misconnect.
He tweeted American asking them to hold the Dallas – Phoenix flight, and the group made their connection because of some creative maneuvering at the airline’s Integrated Ops Center – moving the Phoenix flight from Terminal C to Terminal B, ultimately putting it just a few gates from where the Memphis flight arrived.
Hey @AmericanAir, need a favor. AA 2293 is a little delayed because of an incoming flight medical issue. Connection to PHX in Dallas is going to be snug! We’ve got 63 people trying to make that connection coming in from MEM. If you could give us a few mins of grace, you’d have a…
— Richard Cross (@RichardCrossSTM) January 7, 2026
American Airlines 2293 from Memphis to Dallas was reportedly late due to a medical issue on the inbound. According to Cross, 63 people were connecting to the same Phoenix flight. So one misconnect could strand many very loud, very motivated football fans. And that’s a lot of people to reaccommodate on other flights.
- Memphis – Dallas was scheduled to depart at 11:51 a.m. and left 27 minutes late.
- It was scheduled to arrive at 1:41 p.m., and made it to 20 minutes late.
- That was 34 minutes before departure of the Phoenix flight – six minutes after the Airbus A321 was scheduled to board
Call it 5 minutes to deplane, and 10 minutes to make it from one plane to the other, my bet is they’d have made it by doors close, but it would have been tight.
DFW Terminal B SkyTrain Station
The Memphis inbound was originally slated for a variety of C gates in Dallas (C35 -> C27 -> C26 -> C21). It got moved to B9. That Phoenix departure was leaving from B18. It got moved to B12.
At the time of the tweet, the flight was coming into C26, and the connection left out of B12. American moved the Memphis flight to B9, so there’d be plenty of time to make it from one aircraft to the other – and make it to the Ole Miss game.
DFW C Terminal
Holding a departure is expensive. It can delay the next flight out of Phoenix (actually several – whatever that plane was operating, plus wherever crew were going). It can affect crew legality and gate availability for other flights.
Changing gates didn’t require delaying the departure. Not only did everyone get on, but the Phoenix flight pushed back six minutes early.
And holding the flight would have still meant sprinting for the connection. Everyone just walked a few gates instead.
I’d note that LSU fans chimed in that that Phoenix flight should depart early. And in fact it did. American wasn’t taking sides in the match!
American Airlines Gate at DFW Airport
Meanwhile, American Airlines was not the only carrier taking good care of Ole Miss fans in the air. Southwest gave them a nice welcome:
@SouthwestAir and @OleMissFB for the win!
The Ole Miss community is lucky to have a company like SWA looking out for us.
Next stop @Fiesta_Bowl @OMRebelNation pic.twitter.com/2hOIm32G3E
— Austin Barbour (@Austin_Barbour) January 7, 2026
But this comes on the heels of American going to lengths I don’t think I’ve ever seen from them to take care of a passenger trying to connect to Sydney to reach the funeral of the rabbi killed in the Bondi Beach massacre. They’ve started holding flights in some cases, which is a huge shift for them.
The former CEO told employees they shouldn’t use discretion to do what they think is right to help passengers make flights. And the upshot was that he wasn’t willing to give an inch on “D0” exact on-time departures.
Generally an airline is more likely to hold your flight if,
- a lot of customers are trying to make the connection
- there aren’t other options for getting this group to their destination
- delaying the flight will have only a limited effect on the operation – further delays, crew timing out, other passengers misconnecting later
It’s another great, high profile save in a few weeks from an airline where you didn’t used to see much of that at all, and that’s really positive.
Gary, wasn’t there another story that you posted about recently of American holding a plane for some passengers (or picking some up, even when United wouldn’t?)
in other news, DL has confirmed that it will occupy 15 gates at AUS on the end of the concourse where it currently operates and accessible to the FIS after the expansion and will renovate the BJT
@Tim Dunn readers of this site have known this was the plan since spring.
That’s a great story. I’m proud of AA.
Would be absolutely inept to close the door early when missing 63 pax who are imminent. Wouldn’t put it against AA, and good on them to have the wherewithal to make the adjustments but this is really just common sense to get folks to their destination.
Nice move by AA and it not only worked for the passengers but also the airline since, as you stated, accommodating that many missed connections would be a problem.
One correction, they were in danger of missing the connection but not missing the game. No need to embellish. The flight was Wednesday afternoon and the game is Thursday evening. I strongly suspect they would have e gotten there in time even if they missed the connection.
As I sit on a PHX/SAN flight they are holding for delayed passengers. Weather in PHX (in January!) is making connections crazy. Sat on the ground in TUS for 2 hours on an ATC hold (100 mile flight).
Gary,
I don’t believe that DL has formally confirmed that AUS has accepted DL’s proposal.
correct me if they have and you reported on it
@George Romey — Back to MIA/CLT!
@Tim Dunn Weird defection, but okay. Wow, 15 gates in AUS! That will easily put Delta in 4th place in the TX market…. Loser.
@roberto
It’s the tim Dunn way: story about AA?
Tim: here’s a months old fact about delta being in last place in texas
Story about Alaska fleet order?
Tim Dunn: delta will never be beaten in Seattle
Story about anything United?
Tim Dunn: hate tears and a sob story about Scott Kirby quickly followed by a diatribe about his hatred for the man and how UA will never be delta
lol
What a weird life to live but it’s him
@MaxPower — Was that a copy-and-paste from OMAAT? Teehee.
@1990
No. It wasn’t. If you read Both, you’d know that
I don’t copy and paste between sites like Tim
@MaxPower — Zing! Got’em!
and yet, more replies are about my post than about AA (and UA) holding or not holding connections anywhere.
it never ceases to amaze me how the very people that biy8ch and moan about how much I post run carry my comments from one site to another.
and you all STILL can’t grasp that DL is not trying to be #1 in Texas any more than it is in SEA; they do want a size big enough that they can effectively compete for the local traffic – which apparently does add value to the Amex deal – along with LAX-HKG and -ORD.
Let’s see what DL’s growth plan for AUS is between now and the early 2030s when it will get its 15 gates.
and I can bet my bottom peso that AUS will be the most enjoyable connecting experience in Texas – far better than the DFW megahub or the sprawling mess that is UA’s hub at IAH and even better than any of WN’s Texas “hubs”
This is great and all, but this is just how low LCC has sunk under DUI Dougie and Isom, that we praise them for doing something sensible that UA and DL would’ve likely already done. I wonder if AA will ever recover from the damage caused by the Dougie era. AA’s onboard product is such hot garbage, no wonder they can’t sustain flights anywhere other than LHR and Tokyo.
@Tim Dunn — I love your posts. I want more of them. I’m in-favor of more speech, here, everywhere. Don’t stop. Keep Climbing! 100 more years! (Also, mas pesos, por favor! SkyPesos!)
yes, tim.
The idiotic things you say across the internet do follow you across the internet.
Yes, Tim.
Your unique ability to turn every article into something about Delta follows you across the internet.
It’s something most would be embarrassed by.
“and yet, more replies are about my post than about AA (and UA) holding or not holding connections anywhere.”
and yes, tim. When you turn every article into something about Delta, you’ll get called out on it, as you are.
I really hope you find a better use of your time today than commenting all day on articles.
Perhaps get a hobby?
Yes, weather in PHX in January! It is our “winter” season and the winds can be wild, getting into the valley during Dec – March is not for the faint of heart some days and July – September is an adventure too. Today, we are expecting Thunderstorms which will lead to ground stops after lunch through the early evening. Yes we have 300 plus days of sun but wind and rain on approach into a valley can be the ride of your life!
Happy 2026! Go Canes!
@MaxPower — Aren’t we really here for the ‘love of the game’… sure, Tim’s a Delta fan, and you may prefer United, and I’m always down for a white-paper on the merits of air passenger rights legislation, and unions, and how Turkey should recognize its genocide against Armenians and Greeks in the 1910s, and how Taiwan and Ukraine are sovereign countries that deserve our support, and how BILT 2.0 is gonna blow, hard, like, with teeth, and all the memes, you know, now that I think of it, I’m mostly here for the memes.
American has really been upping its game lately when it comes to these close connections caused by incoming delays. My husband had a flight from to MIA from DCA that arrived 2.5 hrs late. He had to connect to a flight to Santiago and for him it was crucial because his connecting flight out of Santiago was fully booked for the next two days. He would have missed the entire meeting. AA rounded up a bunch of those little buggie things and picked up passengers connecting to the Santiago flight and drove them to the gate. Everyone made the connection!
@1990
I certainly have opinions about the Armenian genocide, Ukraine, Taiwan, and plenty of other things, but like many on here, I have friends I can speak to live in person about that. Aviation comment sections are an effortless way to blow off some steam on light hearted topics.
At the end of the day and in terms of geopolitical relevance, should any of us really care too much if Delta spends billions on anti-unionization or AA spends more money on champagne or Scott Kirby really is full of himself (I mean he is… but he has a right to be…)? It’s a bit more light hearted to me and while Tim does seem to take everything I say EXTREMELY seriously, I go to bed and sleep just fine every night, not waiting up for him (as he stated he does for me… awaiting my replies and staying awake for me…) 😉
It is amusing that you and Tim seem to find me an apologist for any airline. I just fly a lot and don’t that much difference between the US3 and Delta’s network does VERY little for me.
does it ever occur to your tiny little mind, Max, that no one except you cares about how much anyone else posts and where and certainly doesn’t launch into tirades because of what others do.
YOU are the problem, Max. and it also clearly has never crossed your mind that perhaps if you would quit arguing with me I might actually post less.
none of which changes that AA’s operation is improving and DL is growing its network even more.