Originally Posted by
HkCaGu
No, my YVR-SFO had inflight MX urgent enough they wanted to land ASAP at SMF instead of 15 more at SFO. There were no CBP concerns.
If it was incoming delay, pilots will be told to stay longer at hotel and the clock won’t start until the new delayed time so they won’t time out. This could have been MX delay found after clock started, so 3 pilots could only last 12, and EWR was just OK. If it was more tight they could’ve deadheaded pilots to BOS or BGR. UA short long-haul flights all the time due to delay and staffing, most commonly at hubs such as EWR and SFO. Also, if this delay was only known after check in, bags have already been tagged and it would have been a nightmare to unload and retag at EWR.
Last week, even AA shorted their HKG-LAX to SFO where they had no significant presence. HKG-SFO was just below 12 hours that day.
The delay was known at least T-4 which is why the level of disorganization was so confusing. I knew more than the entire staff at DUB. Anyhow, the in-flight crew was LOVELY and we made it to ORD 6+ hrs behind schedule.