Company Watch - United Airlines

AirGuide Business, April 7, 2008

Apr 7, 2008

United Airlines has been forced to cancel flights after grounding its entire fleet of Boeing 777 aircraft. United said that during a regular review of maintenance records it had discovered tests on a fire suppression system had not been thorough enough. The airline canceled 31 of its 84 daily 777 flights on Wednesday and expects more cancellations on Thursday. United has been using other aircraft on the mainly long-haul routes as well as booking passengers onto other airlines. Coincidentally, the US House of Representatives will be holding a hearing about airline maintenance on Thursday. In recent weeks, American Airlines, Delta, Southwest and US Airways have all been forced to take aircraft out of service because of lapsed maintenance inspections. The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that United's grounded planes were not linked to a clampdown it is currently having on safety inspections, which led to some of the other recent groundings. Apr 2, 2008

The Teamsters union, sharply critical of management at United Airlines, won an election on Monday to represent the carrier's mechanics, the airline and union said. The Teamsters gained majority support to unseat the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA), according to a tally of the ballots cast by 6,500 active and furloughed mechanics. AMFA had represented the United mechanics since 2003 and is expected to step aside once the election results are certified by the National Mediation Board. During their two-year campaign to win over membership, the Teamsters union said it would fight maintenance outsourcing and company plans to sell its maintenance base in San Francisco. United sends all of its heavy maintenance and up to 20 percent of other work outside the company, the carrier said. Some work is done in-house for other carriers, including overseas airlines. United has been seeking potential investors in its San Francisco maintenance base, which could involve a sale. The company continues to review its options, a spokeswoman said. Like other major airlines, United has worked for several years to cut costs. Labor ranks in the top two expenses for those carriers. Apr 1, 2008

United Airlines mechanics voted to switch their union representation to the Teamsters Union. The Teamsters announced the result of the vote, which still needs certification by the National Mediation Board. The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association previously represented the mechanics. Apr 1, 2008

United Airlines spent more than $2.4 million to lobby the federal government in 2007, according to a disclosure form. The company lobbied Congress and the Department of Homeland Security on a full slate of legislation, including bills dealing with aviation security, climate change, the retirement age for pilots and the authority of the Federal Aviation Administration. The airline, which is owned by Chicago-based UAL, spent $1 million to lobby on those issues in the second half of 2007, according to the form posted online Feb. 13 by the Senate's public records office. Mar 31, 2008

United Airlines and Air New Zealand are due to arrive in London Heathrow[sup.1]s Terminal T1 by June 10 as part of a complicated jigsaw arrangement that will also see fellow Star members Lufthansa, Swiss and TAP Portugal share the terminal in the under one roof[sup.1] concept. And Turner lost no time in underlining what he believed would be the passenger experience in a revamped T1, compared to the miserable start to T5[sup.1]s existence. Bmi is due to take over British Airways[sup.1]s business class lounge as well as cooperate with alliance carriers in developing a new Star arrivals and departures lounge later in the year. The bmi chief executive also added that his airline was still considering a judicial review concerning the recent CAA decision to allow BAA the right to significantly increase fees, particularly at Heathrow and Gatwick. Apr 1, 2008

United says wiring problems caused two runway incidents. Faulty wiring connected to the main landing gear of two of United Airlines' Airbus A320 jetliners has caused two runway accidents, the airline and government officials said. A spokeswoman for the airline said all of United's maintenance work follows the FAA's airline maintenance audit program. Mar 31, 2008

United Airlines is running a normal service from London Heathrow Apr. 3 after cancelling a number of flights yesterday when it grounded its entire Boeing 777 fleet for maintenance checks. The carrier expects all 11 flights to depart the London hub today, having cancelled 41 of 84 departures yesterday across its worldwide network. Not all of its 52 777s have been checked however, and it is not clear whether there will be further service disruptions in the US today. The airline said it had discovered - as part of a regular review of maintenance records[sup.1] - that the functional test that checks the firing system on one of the five bottles in the cargo fire suppression system on the Boeing 777 was not performed.[sup.1] This was voluntarily disclosed to the Federal Aviation Administration, but the carrier confirmed that this system is regularly tested as part of the pre-flight safety checks.[sup.1] Asked if the aircraft had therefore been dangerous to fly, the United spokesman said, [sup.3]No, there was no danger.[sup.2] The tests to each aircraft take around 90mins. Apr 3, 2008