The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said it would increase oversight of United Airlines following a series of recent safety-related incidents, a move the agency said could affect the airline’s future projects.
“Due to recent safety events, the FAA is increasing oversight of United Airlines to ensure that it is complying with safety regulations; identifying hazards and mitigating risk; and effectively managing safety,” the FAA said in a statement. “Certification activities in process may be allowed to continue, but future projects may be delayed based on findings from oversight.”
The carrier in March has had a handful of operational incidents, including the loss of an external panel, the loss of a tire on takeoff, an inflight engine fire, and a flight that rolled off a runway on landing.
United vice president of corporate safety Sasha Johnson in a Friday letter to United employees said that “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. 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 wrote that the FAA “agree[s] that we need 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.”
Meanwhile, CBS News, citing sources, reported that FAA is considering further temporary action against United, including potentially barring the carrier from launching new routes for which it hasn’t yet begun selling tickets.
