Perhaps he misheard the agent. It may have actually been a whether-related delay (i.e., a delay affecting whether you reach your destination or not).

All joking aside, sounds like your wife got a big heaping plate of lousy service. This would be an opportune time to hunt some compensation. Whereas United has a year-round compensation hunting season, I believe CO's only begins on the Twelfth of Never, as they're woefully stingy in that regard.