The CEO of United Airlines announced that the airline will reevaluate its employee safety training following a series of recent incidents, from a panel that came loose on a plane in mid-flight to a tire lost by another aircraft while taking off.
Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby said the airline plans an additional day of pilot training starting in May, and changes to the curriculum for newly hired mechanics.
In a memo sent to customers on Monday, Kirby tried to calm them by stressing that safety is the airline’s top priority.
“Unfortunately, in recent weeks, our airline has experienced a series of incidents that remind us of the importance of safety,” the executive said. “While these incidents are not related to each other, I want you to know that they have focused our attention.”
He added that the airline evaluates each incident and will use new training methods. He did not provide details, other than measures he said were already planned, such as the extra day of pilot training.
air safety
Some recent incidents wouldn’t usually attract as much attention, but they have been spread across the news and social media due to the fact that there are so many of them, in a short period of time, and concentrated on a single airline. Also, there is renewed attention on air safety since a panel came loose from an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max at 16,000 feet (4,876 meters) above Oregon; Investigators say the panel was missing some legs.
In the most recent incident, which occurred Friday, part of the belly cover of a United jet came off. It was a Boeing 737-800 built in 1998.
Also last week, a United plane flying from Dallas to San Francisco suffered a hydraulic leak, and another flight bound for San Francisco returned to Australia two hours after takeoff due to an unspecified “maintenance issue.”
Days ago, a United plane returned to Houston after a turbine caught fire, and a United Boeing 777 plane lost a tire while taking off in San Francisco.
United planes have even suffered incidents on the ground. On March 8, a jet landing in Houston skidded off the runway and got stuck in the grass. Crews of workers had to move stairs closer to the plane to allow passengers to get off.
No one was hurt in those incidents, some of which are under investigation by U.S. federal authorities.
