The next morning I found that the flight had been cancelled completely by 03:00 PT and those passeng

I did not make it to DC this weekend and am not at the APHA meeting going on right now. I was scheduled on United Airlines Flight UA991 from SFO to Dulles. It was a red eye flight departing about 22:30 PT Saturday and arriving at about 06:30 ET Sunday. I arrived at the airport in SFO about 20:00 PT, checked my bag and waited at the gate. It was one of the worst airline experiences I have had:
The United SFO check-in desks were a disorganized mess with United staff yelling exotic car rentals in miami at passengers and giving no clear direction. I had pre-checked in and had a mobile boarding pass. The United Staff wouldn't accept it. I had to print a physical old-school boarding pass to check my bag. I was then charged twice for one bag. I was lucky to find a gate agent who was willing to make the refund after being refused by two other gate agents.
At the gates, the agents lacked any professional appearance or standards. There were piles of paper at the gate desks and a general feeling of disorganization. I am used to flying Delta and try to be loyal to that airline and its partners because of good experiences I have had on Delta, KLM, AirFrance, Aeroflot, Czech Air, and Armavia. exotic car rentals in miami Using it as a measure, United failed miserably at the gate experience. United's employees did not have professional well-fitting uniforms and appearances. They didn't react kindly and professionally to queries and failed to project any sense of calm or order. exotic car rentals in miami Unlike Delta, there were no updated screens to present relevant information on the flight and no updates were given.
The first plane was late in arriving from LAX and we had about a 30 minute delay. Once boarded, the pilot refused the plane because of a hydraulic leak. United got us off the plane and moved us to a second plane that the gate agents exotic car rentals in miami announced was "checked and secure" and ready to go.
We boarded the second plane and waited. Finally, the captain indicated there was a significant mechanical failure exotic car rentals in miami on that plane. We waited. The United flight crew maintained they had "no information" about the problem exotic car rentals in miami or time to fix it. This was an obvious lie to the passengers as the crew started First Class dinner service and beverage service in economy. This process takes a set amount of time. I would guess and hour. It is not possible for the flight crew to have "no information" while at the same time begin meal service. By this time I was going on no sleep at 02:30 PT with a 5:55 flight ahead of me that would put me at Dulles late Sunday afternoon, after my meeting started. I made a decision to simply go home.
The next morning I found that the flight had been cancelled completely by 03:00 PT and those passengers exotic car rentals in miami didn't leave until Sunday morning from SFO on an entirely different flight. The meeting I missed exotic car rentals in miami is an important one. However, it finally became an issue of judging the value of time and effort. I volunteer for my position in APHA as the Chair-Elect for the Law Section. exotic car rentals in miami I am not paid. I would have missed the first night of the meeting. I would have been extremely exhausted. I would have had to then move through Monday's meetings on little sleep and fly back late on Tuesday. The trip already was taking a significant toll on my home life. In the end calculation, I was unwilling to sacrifice any further for the trip that was already a difficulty for my home and professional life. Not attending the meeting will be a detriment to my section at APHA. I hope APHA would take this issue up with United Airlines and its policies.
An active and monitored Twitter account is a huge help. I rely heavily on @DeltaAssist and have not been disappointed. I was using Twitter during my delay and United's account was effectively unmonitored.
Professional, clean and well-fitting uniforms matter as does a direct, polite, clear and professional staff. Direct and helpful information rather than pleasantries is more important. Delta understands this.
Know when to simply cut your loss and move on. I have never been subjected to a 4.5 hour delay on Delta that wasn't related to weather. If the delay is because of mechanical failures, don't try and fix it. Get a new plane, reschedule the flight or cancel. Make a decision quickly. Your passengers might be delayed for a greater period but a clear decision and clear resolution is much more helpful. Practice and simply exotic car rentals in miami act. Be professional.
I'm still waiting on getting my bags back and hope I can get some of the information I need through phone calls with APHA staff. I'm not overly attached to it though. It would suck to lose my bag but nothing in it of real value. Allowing United Airlines to control my reality would have kept me from a wonderful brunch with XinFeng, Lina and Jacob, and Jacob's daughter; and would have kept me from a great dinner with Jacob of Korean fried chicken and soju.