Comma before and [duplicate]

Is it wrong?

I 've read this at the Journal New York Times. We should be using a comma before and just when we have two independent clauses. That growth is connected to "expanded" of the first clause.

“It was a time when the airline expanded more than expected, and being part of that growth is a very good feeling.”

The comma is joining two independent clauses in this case. The first independent clause:

It was a time when the airline expanded more than expected.

The second independent clause:

Being part of that growth is a very good feeling.

"Being part of that growth" is a gerund phrase that forms the subject of the linking verb "is," and "a very good feeling" is the subject complement. Yes, the second independent clause does refer to content in the first independent clause, but that does not make it grammatically dependent.