Policy for the airline I work for, is that you are supposed to be on the aircraft NO LATER than 15 minutes prior to the departure time of the flight. At the airport I work at, local management gives us an extra 5 minutes to allow people to make the flight, so we have a local airport policy of being on the aircraft NO LATER than 10 minutes prior to departure. Once 10 minutes prior to departure as come, if you aren't boarded, we unseat you, and give your seat to standby passengers. If there is a delay, we tell people to stay in the gate area, as delays can often change. A one hour delay can become 30 minutes, for example, instead of an hour.
The way I do it, when boarding a delay. Once I board the majority of the passengers, to where maybe just a few are still missing, I will make a final boarding call, and call those passengers by name. I will then give them a few minutes to get to the flight. I will also note on my PA announcement that the flight will close in, for example, "three minutes". Once that three minutes has come and passed, if they don't show, I unseat them, and give their seats away.
I give passengers every opportunity to make a flight, but I will not delay a flight, or delay a flight further, because people can't get to the airport, or the gate on time.
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