Reread the entire thread and you'll find that there are still some important details missing. I'm not saying that your assertion is blatently incorrect. I just don't think any of us have enough information to be sympathetic - or not. Perhaps you can reveal to the rest of us if she was traveling on a revenue ticket or trying to nonrev? Perhaps you know that her schedule wasn't so tight that this was the only flight she could use that would let her get to Chicago in time? Perhaps you know that arriving at the airport an hour early isn't early enough at XNA?
The AA faithful have already drawn and quartered Skyflyr69 without having any facts about the individual circumstances. Perhaps you're guess is good, but if not, you and your cohorts are definitely not making AA look any better to the already-unimpressed Skyflyr69.
I'll be the first to support your position if you can tell me that none of these things were factors. However, lacking supporting evidence I'll continue to withold judgment.
My. My. Aren't we the sanctimonious judger tonight? And, you know that you are judging us and taking skyflyer's side. You bet your boots that there are some important details missing.
1. Why did the wife wait until the last flight that would get her to the destination that day when there were 3 earlier flights that same day?
2. What time did she arrive at the airport?
3. Particularly if she was in fact a non-rev, did she act like a horse's rear end, demanding immediate, special service? (I've seen this happen and I've seen that person be the last person waited on.)
Maybe another piece of information will help...
The agents were working on a cancelled DFW flight. Ok, the largest a/c from XNA to DFW is a 70-seat RJ. Assuming it was a 70-seater and assuming it was booked full (since I started writing this Former Moderaator has posted that there were only 30 people on the cancelled flight), the latest flight to DFW before the ORD flight in question is scheduled to depart at 11:11 am. Now, even if it cancelled at the last minute, that is still 1 hour and 10 minutes prior to the ORD flight.
Even though AA's agents are not the nearly-walking-on-water-running-JC-a-close-second-in-the-perfection-business paragons that we all know that ALL SWA agents are, I doubt seriously it would take them that long to process 30 passengers. Even if they are not contract employees, agents are not union; so, if they were working that slow they would be gone. Remember the line allegedly did not even move for 30 minutes.
This story smells to high heaven, but then it is critical of AA; so, imagine my surprise that you are so very eager to believe that it happened.

(not)