A United Airlines domestic flight from Des Moines (DSM) to Chicago O’Hare (ORD) faced an unusual delay on Monday, 27 October when two flight attendants reportedly got into a disagreement before departure — grounding the flight for more than four hours.
Flight UA2138, operated by Airbus A320 registered N452UA, was scheduled to depart at 11:26 but did not take off until 15:56. Passengers had already boarded when they were instructed to deplane so that a replacement cabin crew could be sourced.
According to internal flight logs, the cause of the delay was listed as “disagreement on 2 of the FAs.” In-flight management subsequently decided to remove and re-crew the flight to avoid further disruption.
Crew disputes are extremely rare but can have significant operational consequences. Airlines emphasise Crew Resource Management (CRM) — a key part of annual flight and cabin crew training — to ensure teamwork and communication remain strong under all circumstances.