I have a hard time throwing a fellow pilot under the bus on this one. These airlines will screw a pilot without a second thought if it makes sense to them financially. This guy is making life altering decisions that will impact his family for a long time. I would hope that United does the right thing and offers him another class date if he explains the cold feet and apologizes to the proper people. I can see the people in charge having a heart if he was graceful and showed respect on the way out.