The Details

• Flight: UA3668
• Aircraft: E175
• Class: Economy
• Seat: 11B
• Route: Chicago O’Hare (ORD)-Indianapolis (IND)
• Distance: 206 miles
• Duration: 37 min
• Departure: 7:51 AM
• Arrival: 9:27 AM

The Preflight

After arriving in Terminal 5 from my Polaris flight from London Heathrow, I had a short four-hour layover. Thanks to Global Entry, I quickly exited the terminal and used the Air Transit System (ATS) tram to get to Terminal 1 where all United flights depart. Within half an hour of deplaning, I was back airside again and making my way to the United Polaris Lounge in the C concourse.

As I was arriving on a Polaris international flight, I still had access to the lounge on arrival. The O’Hare Polaris Lounge remains one of my favorite lounges in the USA. The entrance featured a marble check-in counter and an elegant ceiling display.

Near the entrance to the lounge was a variety of individual sofas with privacy screens.

Along the wall was a beverage station with an assortment of coffee, tea, soda, water, and fruit.

The buffet was in a separate room on the right of the main hallway with the food arranged on one side and a variety of sofas on the other.

The buffet had a decent salad bar.

There was also an assortment of cheese, cured meats, and sandwiches.

Hot options included a roasted chicken dish and a fish and potatoes dish.

There were also beans and a broccoli cheese soup.

Additional food choices included roasted cauliflower, rice, cookies, and a caramel dessert.

Behind the buffet area was a quiet zone with day beds and a few shower suites. The shower was very nice with amenities including slippers, deodorant, facial wipes, and dental kits available.

Going back to the main section of the lounge was an elegant bar with liquor, wine, beer on tap, and an espresso machine.

Behind the bar, there were more sofas along the windows.

The sit-down dining room with made-to-order food was in the deepest part of the lounge. Seating options included dining tables for two and booths.

There was a separate breakfast and lunch/dinner menu.

I enjoyed dinner in the dining room. I started with the shrimp fra diavolo sope which was tasty but the portion was small. For my main, I had the excellent Polaris signature burger with bacon, fried eggs, caramelized onions, and cheese.

This burger was restaurant quality with the patty cooked a perfect medium rare. While the food was fantastic the service was subpar. I had also ordered a crab stuffed shrimp and a chocolate chip cookie skillet which were both forgotten. It seemed the two servers in the dining room appeared overwhelmed with serving food and managing a developing line for the dining room tables. The dining room closes at 8 PM and around 7:30 PM the servers started turning passengers away saying that they would not be able to order food.

Behind the dining room, there was another beverage station with a coffee machine, tea, soda, water, and snacks.

Five minutes before boarding I made my way to gate C24.

Boarding began on time at 8:50 PM.

The Flight

United Airlines has a total of 136 economy seats on their A320s arranged in a standard 3-3 configuration.

The Recaro slimline BL3530 seats had a pitch of 29.8 inches with a width of 17.5 inches. I was seated in the regular economy seat without individual power. Only the Domestic First Class and the Economy Plus seats have in-seat power on this aircraft.

While we were supposed to push back at 9:25 PM our flight was delayed as a massive storm was moving into the O’Hare area.

We sat on board for over an hour until 10:15 PM when we deplaned as a ground stop was announced at O’Hare due to the storms.

Just ten minutes later a tornado warning was issued for the O’Hare region. Airport staff began herding all passengers to the tornado shelter which was the long tunnel connecting Concourse B and C.

After spending a sweltering 30 minutes in the packed underground tunnel, we were finally allowed to leave the shelter once the tornado warning was lifted. I made my way back to gate C24 where the gate attendants announced that our flight was still scheduled to depart but without a definite departure time. After about thirty minutes, we boarded a second time at 11:53 PM.

Once the plane was boarded, the flight attendants and captain were extremely honest with our flight’s prognosis. The captain explained that while some flights were allowed to depart, it was only those flying westward as the storm system was moving east. After an hour of sitting on board at the gate, the gate agent announced that the flight attendants had timed out but they were working on securing another crew.

They did manage to find another set of flight attendants for our flight but then the captain announced more bad news. The storm system was directly over Indianapolis at this point and we still had not been cleared to depart. It was not looking promising.

Two hours after boarding at 1:51 AM, the gate agent came on board to announce that our flight had been canceled. He announced that he would assist passengers in rebooking but that there was already a shortage of seats on the flights departing later in the day. As this was a weather-related cancellation, we were all on our own to find accommodations for the night.

I immediately hoped on the United app to chat with an agent and confirmed a seat on the 3:45 PM UA4194 flight. This was not ideal as I was getting home almost an entire day late. There were two earlier flights to Indianapolis but they were all sold out. The United online agent said the only way for me to have a chance at getting on these flights was to get added to the standby list per an in-person agent. I did manage to speak to a United customer service agent at the airport around 2:30 AM and got onto the standby list for the earliest flight home at 7:22 AM.

With only four hours until boarding for the early flight home, I spent the rest of the night in the terminal. Most of the comfortable chairs for sleeping had been claimed by the hundreds of passengers stranded by the tornados. I ended up napping in a regular seat in the terminal.

At 5:00 AM, I made my way to the United Club in the F concourse of Terminal 2. I remembered reading online that United Club agents were more helpful during IRROPs than the usual customer service agents. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try to confirm a seat with the lounge agents. Luckily, I still had access to the United Club as I will still on my Polaris business class itinerary.

The United Club agent somehow worked her magic and within about thirty minutes of me asking, she called my cellphone to say she confirmed an economy seat on the 7:22 AM flight. Success! I spent another hour in the United Club before making my way back to Terminal 1. For the third time in nine hours, I boarded a flight to Indianapolis.

This E175, registration N730YX, was operated by Republic Airways on behalf of United Express as part of the regional jet fleet.

United Airlines has two configurations for their regional E175s. One configuration has a total of 70 seats while another configuration has 76 seats. The E175 today had 76 seats with 12 Domestic First and 64 Economy seats. The economy seats were arranged in a 2-2 configuration.

I was seated in 11B in the regular economy section. Each seat had 31 inches of pitch and was 18.2 inches wide. Economy seats lack in-seat power.

We thankfully pushed back on time and took off at 7:51 AM bound for Indy. I quickly fell asleep and woke up just as we touched down at 9:27 AM. Home, finally, just 10 hours behind schedule.

All things considered, I felt that United did a great job during this irregular operation from a tornado at O’Hare. The app and customer service agents did everything they could to get me home as soon as possible. Ultimately, the United Club agent was able to secure me a seat on the soonest flight home.