Here's another one for y'all.

Tuesday 12/23, CO 1597 IAH-EWR a 753 scheduled to depart at 4:05 PM. I was seated in 1E and saw and heard everything that follows.

Boarding started early for a full flight. We arrived at the gate at 3:25 and the GA's were calling rows in the low 20's. We boarded, took our seats and I noticed that the cockpit was empty - no Captain and no FO. The FA's did a beverage service. At 4:00 PM the FO boarded, introduced himself to the FA's up front, stowed his gear, and settled in to the right seat where he began getting organized. About 5 minutes later, a 4 Striper walked up to the cockpit with no luggage and no Jepp case and began conversing with the FO in the right seat. He entered the cockpit and did not take a seat as he continued to talk to the FO. Shortly after that (and past our scheduled departure time) a GA walked up to cockpit and began conversing with FA's and the Pilot and FO in the cockpit. The GA left the plane and an FA then made an announcement that the Pilot was delayed due to mandatory crew rest. The scheduled Pilot and FO had gotten in late from SEA and weren't legal yet. I then observed the Pilot who had come up to the cockpit get on his CO cellphone. When he completed the call, he returned to the rear of the plane and then reappeared with his luggage and Jepp case. He entered the cockpit again, stowed his gear and settled in to the left seat. There was a brief conversation between him and the FO and then he made an announcement that the assigned FO would not have the legally required crew rest and that he, a qualified 753 Captain who was commuting to EWR to start a run, would fly as FO up to EWR. He further stated that the Captain would not be 'legal' until 5:29 PM (over an hour from the present time) and that they would do everything they could to make up time. The Pilot arrived on board at 5:20, to a round of applause, and we closed the door at 5:40 which was 1:35 late. We arrived late and a number of people missed their connections.

I have both positive and negative comments to make about this experience.

I feel that the CO GA's, FA's, and cockpit crew were great and that the actions taken by the deadheading Captain alleviated what could have turned into an even bigger problem for crewing the flight. There were obviously no qualified Reserve Crew at IAH to fill in (as there would be for a sudden illness or similar emergency). There was honest passenger communication and the promises that were made regarding time were kept. While no one was happy with the situation, at least we know what was occurring.

On the negative side. Any decent crew scheduling system should have detected the inability of the assigned crew to fly this schedule based on their arrival time from SEA.

Why wasn't a different crew assigned or if none were available, why wasn't a flight delay posted so that those people needing connections could be made aware and reaccomodated?

Why were passengers, particularly in coach, forced to endure a 1:35 delay on a full airplane?

Why was Customer First ignored. There should have been a beverage cart or two brought to the plane in accordance with the Customer First plan. The coach FA's had to draw upon the First Class supply of bottled water. Surely, CO has beverage carts available at IAH (unless they auctioned them all at the last DO ).

Failure to provide a crew is treated as a maintenance delay and with over an hour to spare at the gate, CO missed the opportunity to score some positive PR by handing out the inconvenience packs with a discount voucher and 2 drink coupons.

I also have to wonder if CO treated those pax who missed connections to CO paid hotels, etc. or if they foisted it off as a weather delay.

IMO, THESE ISSUES REFLECT A MAJOR FAILURE OF MANAGEMENT TO DEAL WITH REALITY. Someone in CO management needs to look at the series of breakdowns and missed communications, which appear to be pervasive when it come to IRROPS, and implement policys and proceedures to bring these incompetent occurrences to and end rather than being the norm.

I don't believe that any passenger expects perfection, but we do have a reasonable expectation of being treated fairly and honestly.

A note to all of the sycophants - I'm not looking for compensation, nor am I wasting time reporting this to 'WE DONT CARE' although everyone on the flight is probably entitled to some compensation.