FAA upping oversight of United Airlines
The Federal Aviation Administration will increase oversight of United Airlines following several safety incidents that have drawn national media attention, an airline executive told employees in a memo Friday.
“Over the next several weeks, we will begin to see more of an FAA presence in our operation as they begin to review some of our work processes, manuals and facilities,” said Sasha Johnson, United’s vice president of corporate safety. “We welcome their engagement and are very open to hear from them about what they find and their perspective on things we may need to change to make us even safer.”
Johnson said the FAA would pause certification activities for “a period of time,” adding that the airline would learn more information soon from the FAA about which “activities” the FAA was referring to.
The memo was first obtained by and reported on by the Wall Street Journal. Johnson told employees that the FAA agreed that the airline needs to “take an even closer look at multiple areas of our operation to ensure we are doing all we can to promote and drive safety compliance.”
“We have a strong safety culture at United,” said Johnson. “Still, the number of safety-related events in recent weeks have rightfully caused us to pause and evaluate whether there is anything we can and should do differently.”
The action from the FAA comes on the heels of at least 10 incidents within the last three weeks involving the Chicago-based airline. The latest incident on Monday saw a United Airlines plane bound for
Japan return to its gate at San Francisco International Airport due to engine issues. Within the last three weeks, United planes have rolled off a runway, experienced hydraulics issues, lost a wheel during takeoff, and experienced engine failure and other unspecified maintenance issues.
It’s the second time this week airline executives have acknowledged the recent safety incidents. In a letter to customers on Monday, March 18, United
Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said “our team is reviewing the details of each case to understand what happened and using those insights to inform our safety training and procedures across all employee groups.”
“While they are all unrelated, I want you to know that these incidents have our attention and have sharpened our focus,” Kirby said.
On Friday, some Congressional representatives, including Anna Eshoo
and Kevin Mullin, sent a letter to Michael Whitaker, FAA administrator, and Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, requesting information about how each agency will respond to recent airline incidents across the country.
The letter referenced several incidents involving United Airlines planes, such as on March 15, when a flight from SFO to Medford, Ore., landed and crews discovered the external panel was missing. They also referenced other incidents, such as when a United flight heading to Florida was forced to make an emergency landing when an engine caught fire mid-flight earlier this month and when a United plane landed at SFO with a hydraulic leak and “small amount of smoke” on March 14. The letter also referenced the Alaska Airlines door blowout incident that occurred in January on a flight from Portland, Ore., to Ontario (San Bernardino County).
“These most recent incidents point to the need for a broader look at airplane maintenance and safety issues,” the lawmakers wrote. The group requested information about whether any recent airline incidents were related, whether any of the aircraft involved in the incidents were overdue for maintenance and whether additional crew training was needed.
“These events amount to an extremely troubling pattern that we believe may pose a major safety risk to passengers and bystanders on the ground alike,” the lawmakers wrote.