Can your family give you a hug just as you enter the gate to board your plane? Because that's how it was before 9/11 in the States.
Essentially you ask their service desk for a companion pass and tbeu run your ID and print you our a ticket to go through security. I use it because I have family that do not speak English test visits me and I walk them to their gate...but if you just want a hug you can, they don't need a reason to issue one.
But I understand what you are saying, and the ability to be at the gate to drop off or meet domestic passengers brought back old memories.
Last time I flew in Australia domestic flights allowed non-passengers up to the waiting area, yes.
Or cancelling flights for 'bad weather' reason, when all other flights departed just fine from the airport - in this case, airline doesn't have to compensate anything (freakin' Easyjet - I realized I am not rich enough and don't have enough extra vacation to use such a crappy random-quality services).
They distributed us and our luggage across a couple of planes flying out to Vienna.
My luggage arrived on an earlier flight and had to hear from the Austrian police, while I explained that it was Lufthansa's own doing.
It happens all the time that bags get to a flight that the passenger misses and passengers get to a flight that bags miss. Not remotely unusual. It's happened to me recently too.
It actually literally happened to me in November 2001, even for an international flight: I missed my flight due to a 3-hour line at MDW, but my luggage had already boarded. I was assured by everyone concerned that it would be offloaded, but it flew ahead, and was (somewhat miraculously) still waiting for me at the luggage claim when I got there over 12 hours later.