So, this weekend I took a trip out east to see some family, and go to NYC. We flew Delta on the way out there, went without a hitch. (I have flown Delta my entire life except for southwest and AirTran a couple times) Had a great time out east. On the way back, I flew united. Left from a small regional airport mainly used for private jets, and it took a little while to get the paper work from the terminal, as there was only one printer. Understandable. Small airport. I get to ORD, and got something to eat and get on the next plane. Almost immediately, there's a problem. Some dum dum ground crew disconnected the plane from shore power before checking if the APU was on. (it wasn't) Being an A320, its all fly by wire, and the computer had to be reset, and the mechanic had to come to reset it. Then the pilot had to delay to get paperwork. In one of the biggest midwest airports. Hmmmm. Rest of the flight was fine, no problems. Having never flown United, this was a bad experience. Are there normally this many delays? Just seemed like they were used to delays and I can't say I will fly united again. Any other bad experiences? Getting dragged off the plane etc...
I only flew United once, drank enough that I don't actually remember the flight. I'd say your first delay is totally understandable, paperwork's a bitch, it just sucks. Second flight; I'd say that's what you get for flying Airbus and typical ground crew mess. Whoever you end up flying with, it'll usually be a familiar experience across the board; company cultures are almost identical with the exceptions of Alaska and Southwest. Don't hold it against the company; the whole industry just blows.
Your experience doesn't seem particularly unusual for any airline. Delays happen, especially when you're flying out of an insanely busy airport like O'Hare.
True, the entire industry is pretty slimy. I will say that the mechanic got to the plane very quickly, I am very impressed by that, but there a millions mechanics there.