Six delays!? Really?
I would be coming undone too, not on my best behavior.
They should have just transferred them to another plane, if one could be made available. Looks like this air crew were not used to hearing blunt talking New Yorkers.
My wife and I were on a London to KC flight through Dulles that turned from 12 hours to 47 hours.
It started with a five hour ground delay prior to takeoff on a damn wide body with every seat filled. My wife didn’t fly to speak of for four years afterward,
I probably flew four hundred flights after this and only one (bought by another department in my company) was on United. I always found a way not to give them my business.