If a plane backed up a mile on the runway I would assume there could be something amiss. There were multiple announcements when we got close to NOLA pointing out the city and saying we were going to back into the station. Various times when we were stopped on a siding there were announcements stating approximately how long we'd be waiting for a freight train to pass. So an explanation of the maneuver at Houston doesn't seem way out of the ordinary.It made you think they Didnt know what they were doing? Do you think a pilot doesn't know what he's doing when he's maneuvering the plane before take off?
I can assure you if they "missed a turn" and then had to back up, you would have been delayed a couple hours while a new crew was called.