Wanted to share this strange experience…

Connecting to Cabo from Dallas, we were just about to push away from the gate when the pilot announced his co-pilot had come down with food poisoning and we couldn't take off until we had a replacement for him.

They said it would take 45 minutes and ominously asked us all to get off the plane.

Most of us thought we'd never get back on it, but 30 minutes later we were pleased to be called for boarding once more.  We boarded quickly, the same joke on everyone's lips: “Good to see you again” or “Deja Vu all over again.”

Maybe 20 minutes passed and people started to get antsy.  The pilot came on and said they were ready to go but were trying to find 1 passenger who didn't get back on the flight.  Groans.  I made a suggestion that became a refrain as others heard and repeated, “Check the bar!”

Somehow they tracked him down – he was a Mexican national who had decided the co-pilot's food poisoning was a “sign” that he shouldn't go back home, that he should stay in the country with his fiancee.  I don't know the whole story, but apparently they were splitting and he called her during the 30 minutes we were off the plane.

Add another 25 minutes while the ground crew thumped under the plane looking for the passenger's luggage.

But the bright side of the story – because the guy got off the plane, another guy from the standby list was able to get onboard and join his pregnant wife.  I heard her talking about how nervous she was to fly alone, so there's a happy ending for everyone.