UAL can't have it both ways, i.e. when things are rosey they take credit, but when things go down the crapper they can't say it wasn't their flight.
It says UNITED AIRLINES on the fuselage, not Republic Airlines (except in small letters next to the door).
Regardless of the paint on the aircraft and the fine print over the door, isn't this about the boarding process as handled by a UAL gate crew?
Were not the gate crew decisions made to accommodate a UAL deadheading crew?.
I don't see the plane operating crew in this but perhaps more will come out in a formal investigation.