I assume it could be a series of errors in which both airport and airline/pilots are to blame.

One of the most maddening parts of travel SNAFUs is how they use this blame-shifting to avoid responsibility. I've encountered this numerous times flying in/out of JFK/LGA/EWR where they'll just blame each other endlessly and/or the weather without there being any truth to it. Insert Spiderman-pointing-meme here.