8 Incidents in 2 Weeks: What’s Going on With United’s Planes?
An engine fire sparked by plastic packaging wrap, a tire lost shortly after takeoff and a plane veering off the runway: These are among the eight incidents that have occurred over the past two weeks on flights operated by United Airlines. While no injuries — or worse — have been reported, the mishaps have generated headlines and stoked rising anxiety about aviation safety among federal officials and passengers alike.
All of the incidents happened on flights that took off from or were headed to airports in the United States, and five involved airplanes made by Boeing, a manufacturer already under intense scrutiny. In January, a door plug blew out of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliner in mid-flight, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing.
United, one of the world’s largest airlines, flies aircraft manufactured mainly by Boeing and Airbus. In an email United began sending to customers on Monday, the company’s chief executive, Scott Kirby, wrote that while the recent incidents were unrelated, they were “reminders of the importance of safety.
A Steep Climb: As Boeing works to address quality control issues, its new chief starts at a disadvantage in competing with Airbus, the other big maker of passenger planes.
New C.E.O.: Kelly Ortberg was named as Boeing’s next chief executive, putting the aerospace industry veteran in charge as the company tries to recover from a crisis prompted by a panel blowing off a 737 Max plane.
Plea Deal: Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge of conspiring to defraud the federal government over two fatal crashes of the 737 Max in 2018 and 2019. Here’s what to know about the deal and what comes next.
Buying a Longtime Supplier: The company said that it had agreed to buy Spirit AeroSystems, ending a nearly two-decade experiment in outsourcing production of major components of its commercial planes.
Very Little Oversight: A top F.A.A. official said that the agency failed to adequately oversee Boeing and that it should have had better visibility into the plane manufacturer’s safety practices long before a door panel blew off a plane.