For the past several weeks, United Airlines has been under increased scrutiny from regulators, limiting the carrier’s ability to add new routes and aircraft. There’s now a positive update for United.
United Airlines now faces fewer regulatory restrictions
In late March 2024, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that it would increase oversight of United Airlines. The carrier had a slew of safety related incidents in the weeks leading up to that. This not only got a lot of media attention, but also caused regulators to take note.
As a result, the FAA stepped up oversight of United, with the goal of ensuring that the airline is complying with safety regulations, identifying hazards, mitigating risks, and effectively managing safety. For United, the practical implications were that during this investigation, the airline was limited in terms of being able to launch new routes and take delivery of new aircraft.
There’s now a positive update, as United has been given the green light for many of the restrictions in place to be removed, including around certification activities (like taking delivery of new aircraft and launching new routes).
This doesn’t mean that the FAA’s increased oversight of United is completely over, but rather just that United won’t be as restricted in terms of what it can do.
One has to wonder what was going on at United
When the FAA announced increased oversight of United, I wasn’t sure what exactly to make of it. On the one hand, United did have an increase in the number of incidents in a short period of time. On the other hand, it’s hard to imagine that anything about the carrier’s safety culture changed overnight.
In many ways, it seemed like the FAA was partly conducting this investigation for optics. After all, the airline industry isn’t exactly popular with consumers, and with the Boeing 737 MAX incident earlier this year, the FAA wants to seem like it’s being proactive.
But I’m still not sure what to think beyond that. Did United just have a series of incidents that were an unlucky coincidence, or what suddenly changed at United that has made the airline less safe? There are a few potential factors I can think of, though none fully explain the sudden increase in incidents:
- United has the oldest fleet of the “big three” US carriers, and while older aircraft are absolutely safe, it’s also not unusual for them to have more incidents over time; for example, you’ll find a lot more stories involving 767s than you’ll find involving 787s
- The industry overall definitely has a “juniority” problem, where you have a lot more junior pilots, mechanics, air traffic controllers, etc., than before the pandemic, and there’s no denying that the lack of experience eliminates a safety cushion (though that’s true of the entire industry, and not just at United)
- United has grown faster than American and Delta in the past couple of years, and one has to wonder if that has contributed to cutting some corners
As much as US airlines continue to operate safely in terms of people getting to their destination unharmed, there’s no denying that the safety cushion in the US airline industry has decreased since the pandemic.
We’ve seen an increase in near misses across the industry. It also can’t be understated how much more junior the workforce is. In some cases you now have wide body captains at US airlines in their 20s, with just a couple of years experience at the airline. Meanwhile back in the day, it took 20+ years of seniority to get to that point. Experience matters, and at the moment the industry lacks experience.
Bottom line
The Federal Aviation Administration is relaxing some restrictions that United Airlines has been subjected to, as the airline has faced increased regulatory oversight. This has come as United saw an increase in safety related incidents in recent months.
This update is positive news for United, in terms of being able to take delivery of new aircraft and launch new routes.
What do you make of the FAA lifting some restrictions on United?
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