In the wake of several high-profile aviation incidents in 2024, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has issued a memo to customers addressing safety concerns. Despite 2023 being the safest year ever for commercial air travel, recent events have heightened public scrutiny of airline safety, some involving United Airlines jets.
Kirby emphasized that safety remains the airline's top priority and acknowledged the occurrence of multiple unrelated incidents in a short timeframe. He assured customers that each incident is being thoroughly reviewed to inform and enhance safety training and procedures across all employee groups.
United Airlines is already implementing several safety enhancements, including an extra day of pilot training and a new centralized training curriculum for maintenance technicians. These measures were planned before the recent incidents and are part of United's ongoing commitment to safety.
The memo comes amid intensified scrutiny of Boeing following a January 5 incident aboard an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9, where a door plug blew off mid flight, causing cabin depressurization. The National Transportation Safety Board's preliminary investigation found that Boeing failed to replace bolts that hold the door plug in place after removing them during assembly.
United Airlines has experienced its own share of incidents, including a 737 MAX rolling off a runway in Houston and a Boeing 777-200 losing a tire during departure from San Francisco International Airport. Additionally, a United Airbus A320 made an emergency landing in Los Angeles due to a hydraulics system issue.
Kirby expressed confidence in learning from these incidents to maintain an operation that prioritizes safety and makes employees and customers proud.
