It's SOP on BA. But even there, I've seen a guy (non- native English speaker with very poor English) end up on a Nice flight when he thought he was going Copenhagen! Of course, the CC were able to help him before it got to be a problem - they even had someone who spoke his language.
I've seen it a few times in the US with people rushing off at the alst minute because they were on the wrong flight - so checking has a useful purpose. I suspect it helps the CC identify the frequent travellers early on, too.