FAA Expected to Increase Oversight on United Airlines

Following a series of recent incidents, the Federal Aviation Administration is increasing its oversight of United Airlines. The airline announced on Friday that the FAA will examine “multiple areas of our operation.”

Some of the recent issues that prompted the FAA to increase oversight include a piece of the fuselage falling off, an engine fire, and a plane losing a tire while taking off. 

In a statement, Sasha Johnson, United’s vice president of corporate safety said “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.” She added, “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.”

Also, because of this, the FAA is pausing certification activities according to Johnson. The FAA said that it “routinely monitors all aspects of an airline’s operation.” 

Additional Oversight Expected

The FAA’s spokesperson explained that the oversight “focuses on an airline’s compliance with applicable regulations; ability to identify hazards, assess and mitigate risk; and effectively manage safety.”

However, the increased oversight is expected by United Airlines. Last week, FAA administrator Mike Whitaker said “We are going to look at each one of these incidents and see if we see a pattern. … No one likes to see this spike of incidents.”

Whitaker mentioned discussing the incidents with United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby. However, Kirby assured customers this week that the airline is safe, stating that the incidents were unrelated to each other.

Kirby announced that United is looking to make changes in its protocols.  He said that the airline already planned an extra day of training for their pilots starting in May. They are also updating the training curriculum for their new mechanics.