I do feel like there will be a lot of questions, i.e. how was he not checked in for the Air China flight before leaving ORD? Air China may have some sort of policy on checking in within a set time (I'm just speculating). In any event, he needs to be at UA counters ASAP to get it sorted out (maybe see if he can get an Air China rep on a conference call for them to talk directly to the UA counter supervisor)?