Originally Posted by
Nelumbo
At least UA didn't make it "ATC" or weather this time.
Sometimes it would be good to track the operating aircraft with arrival/departure/gate information of the airports in addition to the flight status on .bomb. In this way, I found a few incongruences of the reasons for delay made up by .bomb.
If it makes you feel any better, these "inconsistencies" in reasons for delays are a lot less annoying to passengers than they are to analysts working to improve on-time performance. For a variety of reasons, certain irregularities in the data are inevitable in UA's current operating environment, and what you can't accurately measure is difficult to improve.
Fastair, I didn't actually read your follow-up yet, it's kinda long, but I still maintain that the previously singled-out witticism wasn't actually relevant to the OP's confusion. I do appreciate the info you provide, and I'm glad you continue to feel comfortable doing so.