United Airlines said late Friday that US safety regulators will boost scrutiny of the airline after a series of recent safety incidents.
United’s corporate safety vp, Sasha Johnson, said in a memo that over the following several weeks employees will see more of a presence by the Federal Aviation Administration “in our operation as they start to review some of our work processes, manuals and facilities.”
The Chicago-based airline has experienced several emergencies previously two weeks. On March 15, an external panel was found to be missing from a United aircraft when it landed in Oregon, prompting an FAA investigation.
Before that incident, a United Airlines-operated Boeing 737 MAX rolled onto the grass in Houston. A United-operated Boeing 777-200 sure for Japan also lost a tire after takeoff from San Francisco and was diverted to Los Angeles, where it landed safely.
The incidents “have rightfully caused us to pause and evaluate whether there’s anything we are able to and will do in a different way,” Johnson’s memo said adding “We welcome their engagement and are very open to listen to from them about what they find and their perspective on things we might have to vary to make us even safer.”
On Tuesday, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker told Reuters the agency was going to have a look at United more closely, saying United CEO Scott Kirby “knows we’re going to be engaging somewhat more closely with them as we glance into these.”
Asked for comment on United’s memo, the FAA said on Friday it “routinely monitors all points of an airline’s operation” including “compliance with applicable regulations; ability to discover hazards, assess and mitigate risk; and effectively manage safety.”
Scrutiny on planemaker Boeing has also mounted since a Jan. 5 Alaska Airlines mid-air emergency, with inquiries into safety and quality standards in its production process.
Asked about additional attention many aviation incidents are drawing, Whitaker said some events getting coverage will not be necessarily unusual however the FAA investigates to make sure there isn’t any broader safety trend.
Whitaker said it is vital “to attempt to separate the signal from the noise…. The system works well since it has quite a bit of redundancy built into it, quite a bit of resilience.”