Is it common for airline pilots to miss the airport and have to make a U-turn to land?
I was wondering because it was my first time flying and the pilot flew over the airport at first, made a U-turn, and then landed on the runway on the way back.
Is this common for pilots to miss their airport on the first go?
I suspect that it happens reasonably often. Pilots land going into the wind to get the extra lift. If they approach the airport with a tailwind, they would have to make a U-turn.
He may have had to land from the opposite direction the plane was traveling due to the direction of the wind.
Major airports have more than just one runways. Probably the aircraft was assigned a different runway.
There's something called a "missed approach".
There's a point during a landing approach where the pilot is required to actually see the runway (i.e., not just with instruments). In bad weather, if he can't see the airport, he is required to climb, and go around again.
That might be what you experienced.
He didn't 'miss' the runway.
He was landing in a specific direction due to wind or the available runway at the airport.
The pilot didn't "miss the airport", Skippy. He was flying a standard approach pattern that brings the aircraft in on the downwind leg, flies along the runway with the wind to your back, then turns 90 degrees to "base" and another 90 degrees to land into the wind. MOST small airplanes use this sort of approach pattern to land at general aviation airports. 
Nnaybe he had a reason for nnissing it, there couldve been bad weather for all you know
Yes, depending on wind direction in order to land or any other reason given to the pilot by the airport's control tower.
Aircraft are sometimes kept in a holding pattern flying around the airport in order to let other planes land or to line up on the runways.
No. What you experienced was most likely the airplane approaching the airport with a tail wind and then making a turn for a final approach with a headwind, which is proper procedure for all aircraft.
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