Follow up.  A few years ago, I was on a UAL flight from LA to Honolulu.  Everyone boarded, but departure was delayed because the co-pilot commuting from another airport had not arrived.  Everyone deplaned to wait for the co-pilot’s arrival.  About two hours later, a gate agent announced his arrival and said re-boarding would begin soon, but it did not.  Passengers were angry and yelling at gate agents demanding reasons for the delay.  We finally got the answer.  The co-pilot’s delayed arrival resulted in the pilot being awake too long to fly the plane under FAA rules.  That angered passengers even more and came close to rioting.  United ultimately found another pilot and the flight departed five or six hours late.     The flight was scheduled to return to LA from Honolulu with a load of passengers, but the delayed caused UAL to put those passengers on other airlines or in hotels for the night.  This debacle was costly to UAL, but the commuting continues.  Dumb, dumber, the dumbest.