US FAA says it has not approved any United Airlines route, fleet expansions

1:28 pm Thursday, May 16th, 2024

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday it has not approved any expansion of United Airlines’ routes or fleets and is requiring the presence of FAA personnel when United conducts final inspections of new aircraft replacing older models.

Earlier on Thursday, United Airlines told employees it had gotten some “good news” saying the FAA has allowed the airline “to begin the process of restarting our certification activities, including new aircraft and routes.”

Some airline certification activities were halted after the FAA said in March it was increasing its oversight of United following recent safety incidents. The aviation regulator said then it was initiating a formal evaluation to ensure the Chicago-based carrier was complying with safety regulations.

“The FAA has not approved any expansion of United Airlines’ routes or fleets,” the FAA said Thursday, adding the review, known as the Certificate Holder Evaluation Program, “is ongoing and safety will determine the timeline for completing it.”

The FAA said the evaluation is to ensure the Chicago-based airline “is complying with safety regulations; identifying hazards and mitigating risk; and effectively managing safety.”

United in an email to its employees on Thursday said the FAA was allowing the company to begin the certification process restart “after a careful review and discussion about the proactive safety steps United has taken to date.”

A United spokesperson declined to elaborate.

The airline delayed the start of two new international routes last month, citing a pause on some certifications by the FAA.

“We will continue to see an FAA presence in our operation as they review our work processes, manuals and facilities,” United Airlines said.

The FAA’s Certificate Management Office for United had raised concerns about a series of safety incidents, officials said.

In March, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker told Reuters the agency was looking at United more closely following the recent incidents, saying United CEO Scott Kirby “knows we’re going to be engaging a little more closely with them as we look into these.”

(Reporting by Kannaki Deka in Bengaluru and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Pooja Desai, Chizu Nomiyama and Aurora Ellis)