The FAA Halts Growth at United Airlines After Mandating No New Planes and an Onsite Regulator

Over the past few weeks, United Airlines seemed to be popping up daily with random maintenance issues. One aircraft lost a maintenance panel while in flight, another diverted in Sydney with its main landing gear doors open, hydraulic failure plagued a Mexico City-bound flight, an issue caused a plane landing in Houston to roll into the grass, and a trio of other incidents including a tire falling off upon takeoff at SFO have all been recently reported.

United's CEO issued a statement around safety concerns and now the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has apparently stepped in.

The FAA will have an increased presence in United's daily operation. the agency will be reviewing United's manuals, work processes, and facilities. While this is ongoing, United cannot add any new routes and cannot use any aircraft delivered on revenue-earning routes.

CNN is reporting that the FAA released a statement that reads:

Safety assurance system routinely monitors all aspects of an airline's operation. It focuses on an airline's compliance with applicable regulations; ability to identify hazards, assess and mitigate risk; and
effectively manage safety.

It's unknown how long this oversight will last and what impact it will have on United's revenue and operations. Air travel is still extremely safe and even with these incidents no need to question flying United or any other US carrier.

It will be interesting to see what the FAA finds and what corrective actions are taken. More details will certainly be released and this will hopefully improve processes to ensure less incidents.

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* Origin: AVIATION ECHO HQ (2:292/854)