©Reuters. United Airlines planes are parked at the gates of O’Hare International Airport ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., November 20, 2021. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
(Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is considering measures to curb United Airlines’ growth, including preventing the airline from adding new routes, following a series of safety incidents, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday.
The regulator has discussed temporary actions it may take with the airline’s leadership in recent days, Bloomberg said, citing people familiar with the matter.
United may also be barred from flying paying customers on newly delivered planes, the report said.
“The FAA’s Safety Assurance System routinely monitors all aspects of an airline’s operations,” the agency said in a statement Saturday.
United did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
U.S. safety regulators will tighten scrutiny of United after several recent safety incidents, the Chicago-based airline said Friday.
On March 15, a United plane was found missing an exterior panel when it landed in Oregon, prompting an FAA investigation. Before that, a Boeing (NYSE:) 737 MAX from its fleet rolled onto the grass in Houston. A United Boeing 777-200 bound for Japan lost a tire after takeoff from San Francisco and was diverted to Los Angeles, where it landed safely.
United’s vice president of corporate safety, Sasha Johnson, said in a statement that in the coming weeks, employees will see an increased presence from the FAA “in our operations as they begin to review some of our work processes, manuals and facilities.” .