United Airlines CEO tells customers string of incidents 'have sharpened our focus'

Aviation has been under the microscope this year with a series of high-profile incidents raising concerns about safety across the industry. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby sent a letter to customers Monday acknowledging recent issues at the airline. “Unfortunately, in the past few weeks, our airline has experienced a number of incidents that are reminders of the importance of safety. While they are all unrelated, I want you to know that these incidents have our attention and have sharpened our focus,” the letter said while pledging action to increase safety at the carrier. “Our team is reviewing the details of each case to understand what happened and using those insights to inform our safety training and procedures across all employee groups. This is in addition to some changes that were already planned, including an extra day of in-person training for all pilots starting in May and a centralized training curriculum for our new-hire maintenance technicians,” Kirby’s statement continued. Congress and the Federal Aviation Administration, meanwhile, are working to improve oversight and renew the regulatory focus on aviation safety. Story includes timeline of the most notable air travel incidents so far in 2024. <br/>