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Read United Airlines' Safety Letter Hours Before 10th Incident in Two Weeks


1 week ago 14
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The CEO of United Airlines reassured customers that it would "continue to run an operation that puts safety first" only hours before the carrier suffered a tenth incident with one of its planes in two weeks.

On Monday, a flight from San Francisco to Osaka, Japan, was held on the runway for an hour and 45 minutes before returning to the gate to be decanted at around 1:45 p.m. after what a spokesperson described as "an engine start issue." The flight eventually departed later the same afternoon.

The incident came after a United Airlines plane flew from San Francisco to Oregon missing an external panel on Friday; on March 8 the left main landing gear of a United aircraft collapsed in Houston, Texas after the plane rolled onto the grass by the runway; and a flight from San Francisco to Japan on March 7 lost a tire during take-off.

Around five hours before the latest incident, Scott Kirby, the airline's chief executive, wrote to customers by email about the company's "commitment to safety," in a letter he also shared publicly on LinkedIn.

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby
Main image, United Airlines planes are seen at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, on September 17, 2023. Inset, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby is seen at the Boeing manufacturing facility in North... Justin Sullivan/LOGAN CYRUS/AFP/Getty Images

He said:

"Of all the things that make me proud of our team at United Airlines, I'm most proud of the culture we've built around the safety of our employees and our customers.

"Safety is our highest priority and is at the center of everything we do. Unfortunately, in the past few weeks, our airline has experienced a number of incidents that are reminders of the importance of safety. While they are all unrelated, I want you to know that these incidents have our attention and have sharpened our focus.

"Our team is reviewing the details of each case to understand what happened and using those insights to inform our safety training and procedures across all employee groups. This is in addition to some changes that were already planned, including an extra day of in-person training for all pilots starting in May and a centralized training curriculum for our new-hire maintenance technicians. We're also dedicating more resources to supplier network management.

"We empower our team to speak up and raise their hand if they see something wrong. 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 on your trip.

"In the past few years, we've done a lot at United to build a new culture, improve our business and earn your trust. I'm confident that we'll learn the right lessons from these recent incidents and continue to run an operation that puts safety first and makes our employees and customers proud.

"Thank you for flying United, and I hope to see you onboard soon."

While the recent incidents are not thought to have caused any injuries—and safety incidents occur periodically among other carriers—the frequency of the events on United Airlines planes in such a short space of time has raised concerns that Kirby had hoped to allay.

The United CEO has not commented publicly since the latest incident. Newsweek approached the company via email for further comment on Tuesday.

Uncommon Knowledge

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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