The CEO of United Airlines says that a slew of recent ********* ranging from a piece of aluminum skin falling off a plane to another *** losing a wheel on takeoff will cause the ******* to review its safety training for employees.
CEO Scott Kirby said the ******* was already planning an extra day of training for pilots starting in May and changes in training curriculum for newly hired mechanics.
In a memo to customers on Monday, Kirby tried to reassure travelers that safety is the *******’s top priority.
“Unfortunately, in the past few weeks, our ******* has experienced a number of ********* that are reminders of the importance of safety,” he said. “While they are all unrelated, I want you to know that these ********* have our attention and have sharpened our focus.”
Kirby said the ******* is reviewing each recent ******** and will use what it learns to “inform” safety training and procedures. He did not give any details beyond measures that he said were already being planned, such as the extra day of training for pilots.
Some of the recent ********* — such as cracks in multi-layer windshields — don’t normally attract much attention but have gained news coverage and clicks on social media because of the sheer number of events affecting one ******* in a short period of time.
To a degree, United may be a ****** of heightened concern about air safety since January when a panel blew off an Alaska Airlines ********** Max at 16,000 feet above Oregon; investigators say bolts securing the panel were missing.
“I don’t see a major safety issue at United,” said John Cox, former ******* pilot and now a safety consultant. “The media is enhancing the events with extra scrutiny. Anything right now that happens to a United airplane makes the news.”
Cox said the ********* “are unfortunate, and they are getting a lot of attention, but I don’t see that they are showing an erosion in the safety of the commercial aviation system.”
In the most recent ******** at United, on Friday a chunk of the outer aluminum skin fell off the ***** of a **********-800 that was built in 1998.
Also last week, a United flight from Dallas to San Francisco suffered a hydraulic leak, and another flight bound for San Francisco returned to Australia two hours after takeoff because of an undescribed “maintenance issue.”
Earlier this month, a United flight returned to Houston after an engine caught ****, and a tire fell off a United Boeing 777 during takeoff in San Francisco.
United planes have even had mishaps while on the ground. Last month, pilots on one plane reported that rudder pedals used to steer on the runway briefly failed after touchdown in Newark, New Jersey.
This month, a *** landing in Houston rolled off an airport taxiway in Houston and got stuck in grass. Workers had to haul out moveable stairs to help passengers exit the plane.
There were no ******** in any of the *********, several of which are under ************* by federal officials.