Upvote:0
In terms of airport operations the gate may only be published when the airport is sure of which gate its going to be. Some times they know that far in advance if a single airframe is turned around at a given gate it may land, connect up, de-plane its current passengers, get cleaned, then board the new flight. But this is not always the case. If its the first flight of the day for an aircraft they may not know the gate until the aircraft is towed/powered there shortly before the flight. If an airframe has a mechanical issue or is running late enough and the airline has another airframe to swap in the gate may change at the last minute. To make this all simpler the airport may simply wait until they are sure before doing anything.
With all this in mind Im sure someone at the airport has analyzed the business implications of this as well....