Summary
- FAA approves United Airlines to accept new aircraft after safety incidents and thorough review of proactive safety steps.
- Delays in international routes due to paused aircraft deliveries, United focused on complying with safety regulations.
- United remains under FAA scrutiny, required approval for new aircraft and routes, continuing to coordinate closely with FAA.
Chicago-based United Airlines has been given the seal of approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to accept delivery of new aircraft. Regulators implemented a pause earlier this year in March due to a string of safety incidents that had affected the airline.
United was required to have the presence of FAA personnel during final inspections of new aircraft to ensure that careful review and proactive safety steps were being taken. Mike Whitaker, an FAA Administrator, reiterated the relaxing of delivery restrictions:
“We are permitting them to take deliveries of aircraft. Most of those aircraft have been one-on-one replacements for missing aircraft,” told reporters at a briefing. “Some of it has been growth. They have provided us with their growth plan, and we’re working with them on that growth plan going forward.”
Photo: Kevin Hackert | Shutterstock
Known as the Certificate Holder Evaluation Programme, United was expected to comply with all safety regulations and the FAA’s decision to allow the carrier to restart its certification process after a thorough review of the carrier’s proactive safety steps to date.
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Delays to international ambitions
Due to delayed aircraft deliveries, United was forced to pause two international routes last month: Tokyo to Cebu and Newark to Faro. The company cited pauses in some aircraft certification following safety concerns. The review identified that United “is complying with safety regulations; identifying hazards and mitigating risk; and effectively managing safety.”
Photo: Robin Guess | Shutterstock
Such reviews last took place with the carrier in 2018, and the evaluation is expected for each airline to undertake every couple of years. However, due to the repeated incidents that United experienced, the FAA was unable to approve passengers to travel on new United aircraft or routes until the evaluation was complete.
Simple Flying reached out to the Star Alliance carrier, to which they responded, “We do not have anything to add beyond what Administrator Whittaker shared yesterday.'”
Photo: Lukas Souza | Simple Flying
United communicated to its staff several weeks ago that it was expected to remain under the microscope by the FAA and will need to obtain approval for any new aircraft or routes, and would then not approve any expansion to routes or fleet, and stated:
“Today, we got some good news: after a careful review and discussion about the proactive safety steps United has taken to date, our FAA Certificate Management Office has allowed us to begin the process of restarting our certification activities, including new aircraft and routes, and we will continue to coordinate closely with the FAA.”
Safety concerns that have put United under the microscope have included a Boeing 777 losing a tire shortly after take off from San Francisco to Japan and a missing panel from a Boeing 737 above Oregon in March.
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Boeing
- Stock Code:
- BA
- Date Founded:
- 1916-07-15
- CEO:
- Dave Calhoun
- Headquarters Location:
- Chicago, USA
- Key Product Lines:
- Boeing 737, Boeing 747, Boeing 757, Boeing 767, Boeing 777, Boeing 787
- Business Type:
- Planemaker
