Interesting. I was on 1881 (EWR-SEA) that same night. We sat on the ramp from about 6:30 until 10:00, and then took off for our 5.5 hour flight. No one was freaking out on our plane. The F/A's were serving drinks out of the back of the plane for anyone who went back there. The Captain got on the intercom and said people could get up and make themselves comfortable as needed, but to be prepared to be seated should we be cleared for takeoff.

One thing the F/A's did that was nice: After the first hour or so they got up and passed out headphones free of charge, and fired up the movie that gets shown on the West->East legs. We watched almost the entire thing before takeoff. Then when we got in the air, finished that movie, and then got the normal East-West movie too, along with the food and drink service.

I sent CO Care a message praising the F/A's for taking the initiative in doing that, also telling them that I didn't need a reply, but they responded in under 24 hours anyway to say thank you. Proof that praise gets noticed by customer service people much faster than criticisms. My advice to everyone when they have a complaint: Include the good with the bad. If the agent sees that you can recognize and appreciate good service, they will take your criticism of bad service more seriously. (i.e. they learn up front that you are not just a habitual complainer, who they hear from often and loudly.)