United Airlines President Scott Kirby speaks in Chicago, Illinois, June 5, 2019.
Kamil Krzaczynski | Reuters
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby on Monday sought to reassure customers about the company's safety after a series of flight problems in recent weeks.
In one incident this month, A Tires fell from one of the carrier's Boeing 777 aircraft bound for Japan shortly after takeoff, damaging cars in the San Francisco Airport parking lot. In another case, a panel was discovered missing from the plane after the older Boeing 737 landed in Oregon on Friday.
“Safety is our top priority and is at the center of everything we do,” Kirby said in an email to customers. “Unfortunately, in the past few weeks, our airline has experienced a number of incidents that remind us of the importance of safety.”
The incidents, which the FAA is investigating, “are all unrelated” but the team is reviewing the details “and using those insights to guide our safety training and procedures across all employee groups,” Kirby said.
A series of recent mishaps occurred during heightened scrutiny of the airline industry after the door connection panel of Alaska Airlines' nearly new Boeing 737 Max 9 exploded on January 5.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a plane that skidded off the runway at Bush Airport early Friday morning.
Source: NBC Houston KPRC2+
On March 8, a United 737 MAX ran off the Houston runway. On March 4, a Florida-bound United Boeing 737 from Houston returned to the airport after the engine swallowed plastic bubble wrap, with a video on social media showing flames emerging from the engine.
United's CEO said the airline already planned to implement changes such as “an additional day of in-person training for all pilots starting in May and a centralized training curriculum for our newly hired maintenance technicians.”
“You can be confident that every time a United plane pulls away from the gate, everyone on our team is working together to keep you safe during your flight,” he wrote.
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