ORD to SFO. Fully boarded. Then the pilot announces they “found some damage” and it’ll be at least 90 minutes while they evaluate. Possibly another aircraft. They’re letting passengers deplane.
At that point I’m thinking the crew will time out and we’re done for the night.
Debated whether to get off and hunt for meal vouchers or just sit tight. Ultimately deplaned with everyone else.
Update: Pilot later announced the issue was fixed and we reboarded. Fingers crossed.
Epilogue: We landed in SFO only 35 minutes late.
When we reboarded, FAs greeted everyone with “welcome back.” After landing, they held the cabin briefly to let one passenger with a tight connection go first. Entire plane cooperated without drama.
SFO T3 was eerily empty around 8:30pm Monday. Bag was on the belt within 30 seconds and second out overall.
Given the broader travel disruptions on the East Coast and in Mexico, everything felt unusually calm.
Still though… I can’t remember the last domestic United flight I took that didn’t start with some kind of maintenance suspense.
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