Originally Posted by
kenn0223
A while ago one of the UA employees posted that there are actually a lot (perhaps 100s) of delay reason codes that are each mapped to a handful of customer facing reasons. I could see such mapping being done by the marketing department with less interest on providing accurate information and more interest on providing understandable information that will generate the fewest questions.
It's even more complicated than that. Say there's a 20-minute crew issue, followed by a 4.5 hour mechanical, then a 10 minute delay because the water had to be topped off after that long mechanical.
A "reasonable person" would say that was a mechanical delay, but UA might display it as preparation because that was the last thing that happened to it.