I agree that no compensation is owed. However, when UA (or any other airline for that matter) advertises a flight as being “non-stop”, but knows from experience that from time-to-time the flight will require a “planned” stop for fuel due to headwinds, then I think it’s only fair that the airline at least make the customer aware of that possibility before they buy the ticket – not the day before the flight, or at the gate when the flight is about to leave or, even worse, during mid-flight. The notice in the advertising could be something as simple as adding an asterisk:

Non-Stop*

* = During the preceding __ months, __% of these flights required a re-fueling stop due to headwinds resulting an average delay of ___ minutes.

In any event, this all kinda reminds me of wireless carriers who advertise “Unlimited data” plans, but then you come to find out that “unlimited” doesn’t mean what you’ve always thought it did. But at least with cell phone plans you can read the fine print and know what you’re getting yourself into before making the purchase.

Off to catch a flight now…