We’re seeing a concerted effort across every department at United Airlines to renew and refresh a focus on safety, an effort spearheaded by CEO Scott Kirby as negative headlines concerning maintenance on United Airlines continue to make headlines around the globe.
United Airlines CEO Puts Spotlight On Safety, But Warns Against Being Defensive
To say that United is in damage-control mode is an understatement. Over the last several days employees from virtually every department at United Airlines have shared memos with Live And Let’s Fly stressing the paramount importance of safety. We will share further details this week on some of that guidance, but the point is that United has “woken up” and its focus on safety at every level will supersede its more recent emphasis on growth and customer service.
Framing the timeliness of this renewed focus on safety, Kirby recorded a two-minute video to employees. Kirby begins by asserting that United already has some of the best training, systems, and reporting culture in the world. He adds, however:
“But it’s also true that even if we have a good foundation there, that our incidents have been higher recently, as you’ve seen in the news. And so this process that we’re going through with the FAA, to me, is really an opportunity for us to be introspective and to take this as an opportunity to not look at this as just a challenge, but as an opportunity to be better.”
It is interesting that Kirby, like earlier communication from Sasha Johnson, United’s Vice President of Corporate Safety, frames the FAA audit as one of collaboration when in reality the FAA oversight and certification delays appear punitive.
> Read More: United Airlines Faces Increased Government Oversight, Certification Delays
Yet Kirby is objectively correct that this unexpected oversight from the FAA will force it to be a better airline…to put even more focus on safety. That may be painful at first (i.e. more maintenance-related delays instead of deferring repairs until a later point). But the end product, if done right, will be a more operationally reliable carrier.
Size and superlatives matter to Kirby…throughout his tenure, he has used “biggest” and “best” language to describe his aspirations for United. That continues:
“We are going to be the best and the biggest airline in the world. And part of that means having the best safety culture and the best safety systems, and the highest compliance of any airline in the world. We’re all excited about the growth and excited about the future and all the good things that are happening at United.”
Frankly, I do not understand why Kirby couches everything in terms of being best. Wouldn’t it be better to say that the goal is to be failsafe…the goal is to eliminate mechanical delays and cancellations because that is what is necessary to run a reliable airline and build lasting loyalty? Who cares how much better (or worse) American Airlines or Delta Air Lines are? The point is not one of relative success, but absolute success: these mechanical issues are unacceptable, full stop.
But Kirby reasonably realizes that United cannot and will not grow if it cannot get the basics right, most importantly safety:
“If we’re going to be the fastest-growing airline in the history of aviation, if we’re going to be the biggest, if we’re going to be the best, it also means we need to lead across the board. And not only lead in terms of having great training and great systems and great reporting culture, but also lead in terms of always knowing that all 100,000 people at United Airlines put safety number one and are thinking about safety as top of mind.”
Kirby wants employees to think more about safety and to make it “top of mind” including a renewed focus on standard operating procedures:
“While we say in the core4 that safety is number one, and we all believe that, and we know that that’s the bedrock that everything at United is built on top of, I’m asking all of you and myself to spend more time talking and thinking about safety as the number one thing, and really to get it to be top of mind, to focus on compliance and focus on standard operating procedures.”
But at the same time, he does not want employees to be defensive. Rather, this (unexpected) snare in United’s growth plans should be viewed as an opportunity for improvement.
“And so, as we go through this process, I would ask all of you to feel like I do about it. Don’t be defensive. Think of this as an opportunity because that’s what this is. This is an opportunity for a great airline to be even better.”
In terms of being on the defense, United has provided its reservation agents with specific scripts to address incoming calls from customers concerned about flying on Boeing jets. We’ll look at those more closely in a future post.
CONCLUSION
When these mechanical incidents first began clustering and then making headlines, I called on Kirby to get out in front of it to reassure customers, employees, and investors.
It appears that United has realized that without its reputation of safety (previously never even part of any discussion on United), it cannot possibly grow, let alone be profitable.
“I think this process that we’re going through is a welcome call to action for us at United. To be able to take this and say, how can we be even better?”
If that is how United responds to these recent string of safety concerns, it can emerge as a stronger carrier. That starts with doing the little things right day in and day out.
> Read More: United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby Addresses Safety In Note To Frequent Flyers
Japan Airlines has a requirement for all jobs to learn at the Safety Promotion Center near Haneda Airport. It is also open to the public. For the public, it’s a museum of a JAL 747 that crashed due to an unsafe and improper repair of the rear bulkhead. For the JAL employees, it’s a reminder to don’t do anything that could eventually kill someone.
I visited the place. It is in an unmarked office building and hard to find. After I couldn’t find it, the director of the place came outside to look for me. I thanked him. He said it was his duty to help.
@derek … +1 . Thanks for the information .
One way to disarm a defensive attitude is breathing the bouquet of an overflowing lavatory flying from Frankfurt to San Francisco.
@JoeMart … Yep … What was up with ground service at FRA ?
We brought that 777 in from IAD and had the same issue. I overheard the crew and the cockpit in conversation saying this was the third consecutive flight with the same issue – basically deferring repairs and keep the planes flying
United has been lucky so far, but DEI is going to kill people sooner or later. Hiring people based on skin color or gender instead of merit is crazy. The lawsuits when it happens will bankrupt the company
DEI HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS . They are simply trying to grow too fast and with the delays in aircraft deliveries from Boeing, they simply push their aircraft and crews to the maximum limit ever y day. Even deferring some repairs, unless absolutely necessary, until later to keep the aircraft flying. This has nothing at ALL to do with anyone’s skin color. Some of you people really need to get a life and realize there are more important issues in this world other than to keep the racial nonsense in the forefront of everything you do or say .
I’m reminded of the Orwellian banner in Office Space: “Is this good for the company?” Yes, it’s all good and well and all that, but what someone doesn’t dare express is: “What’s in it for me?”
Safety is all good and all that and “teamwork”, but what is there to back it up other than a higher bonus for Kirby? Aside from golfing and making such platitudes, what actions is he committing to in order to INCENTIVIZE safety?
For example: give bonuses to those who point out safety violations rather than them dying of mysterious circumstances in hotel parking lots. Promote executives who improve safety and layoff those who don’t. THAT’S a REAL sign of actual commitment, not hanging up a banner or making a slogan.
In the USSR, after decades of “rank and yank” policies where someone would go to gulag every week to so to “make an example”, the average worker had become the equivalent of “Wally” in Dilbert knowing how to keep their head down and out of trouble but possessing absolutely ZERO enthusiasm aside from repeating the platitudes everyone else did.
@PolishKnight … +1 . Perceptive .
Merci/dzienkuje. I think there’s a reason so many fear old white guys like Wally in Dilbert: As they say in mobster films “Beware of an old man in a profession where men usually die young”?
The unintended consequences of darwinistic management is that it produces survivors whose primary goal is to, well, survive. It’s not about being fast, efficient, pretty, or “good”, but about one simply standing when the day is done.
“It is difficult to associate these horrors with the proud civilizations that created them: Sparta, Rome, The Knights of Europe, the Samurai. They worshipped strength, because it is strength that makes all other values possible. Nothing survives without it. Who knows – what delicate wonders have died out of the world, for want of the strength to survive.” — Han, Enter the Dragon
@PolishKnight … +1 . Scott Adams and Dilbert are a treasure .
One way United can show it is serious about safety is by making its VP of Corporate Safety someone with… you know… a background in safety! Meaning, someone with actual airline operational experience, not a politically-connected former press secretary with a background in journalism.
I’m sure Sasha Johnson is very bright, but having someone with no relevant experience to *safety* is not a good look for the company right now. She should be moved around to a publicity or marketing-oriented role where her skills are undoubtedly better deployed.
@GKK Cancel … +1 .
I just looked at her LinkedIn… critical yikes.
CNN Producer?
DOT Press Secretary???
Does she even know how to read a risk management plan?
Maybe she learned some things on the job as a Regulatory Director for 5 years, but man, not a good look.
Wow.. not good…
As I commented before, she is fulfilling her intended role to provide diversity at the EO level, that and maybe also to be an information back channel to the government and media complex that United is really one of the good DEI companies. Any knowledge about how to drive a top rated safety culture in a company like United was not one the criteria for selecting her for this position.
She’s a DEI hire.
Bullsh*t.
Sooner or later DEI is going to kill a planeload of passengers. They have been very lucky so far. The lawsuits after will probably bankrupt the company!
United has DST trainers. People that have years with their job and job safety, employees can sign up and attend classes so they can show the new hires how to perform their job and being safe while doing what they need to do, understanding paperwork and a proper sign off of the job they performed. The only problem I see with there program is people who attend the classes and begin teaching the new hires the different jobs in maintenance is that the company isn’t paying them.
Hey shorty, how’s that DEI working out for you?
@Koggerj … +1 .
Do you both still honestly believe that nonsese? It’s promoting/hiring people without a technical background when that is who should be hired/promoted. Nothing to do with the gender, race, ethnicity, etc of the person being hired. Also, the problem is companies focusing on profits over anything else.
But hey, keep spouting that asinine DEI stuff (which is kind of the new N-word) so you can divert the attention from where it really needs to be focused on.
Wrong, it’s being proven DEI is causing a competency crisis. Dei is become toxic and like the drag shows and CRT it will be taboo and dropped by society.
The only place it is being proven is in the minds of rancid delusional racists such as yourself.
Nice to see he/she found a moment to talk to staff instead of being in drag. “We flyin’ planes n’ shxt”.
I came across a website called ‘Aeroinside’ that list many, many, safety issues and air incidents that happen everyday around they world (mostly aircraft related). But they want you to subscribe which I do not. Yes being KIND rather than defensive goes a long way!
My personal metric for safety is the number of times the planes I’m personally on go tech. I know that’s statistically illiterate, but still: my experience of United is that they often don’t know whether their planes will work or not until they see whether they turn on or not. That’s not good enough for me–as I’ve said here before, I always used to take airline safety for granted, but with United I no longer do. I’m glad the FAA is taking notice.
I really don’t think it is the “rank and file” at United that need to be reminded that safety is #1. It is upper management and the board that have decided to put profit and “on time” statistics first. The rank and file are pressured to cut corners by management at the threat of discipline. SOP’s have changed to MAKING corners be cut that the rank and file employees do not feel comfortable with, but have no choice. United really needs to be reminding the corporate machine and the board of directors that safety should absolutely come first, over anything else, not employees.
If you saw the number of times the mechanics are given the green light to defer a mechanical issue, you wouldn’t believe it. Who has to deal with the justifiable flack from passengers? The underpaid flight attendants and customer service agents. Scott Kirby hides out in his ivory tower and says to keep the planes flying.
Speaking of underpaid employees, let’s talk the flight attendants who can barely afford to work at United any longer. They are quitting in groves. While mechanics are raking in the dough and skipping over important safety issues at the request of upper management, flight attendants are living at 2016 wages. Many are qualifying for food stamps while Kirby and his money grubbing executive management continue to take their raises and bonuses. Sad to say the ones suffering are the flight attendants right now. They have to put up with the lack of maintenance concerns on the aircrafts. Cutting corners, taping up unusable exits and then Kirby has the audacity to tell employees to be more concerned with safety. The short cuts and cut backs are coming directly from HIM!
If the flight attendants aren’t given an industry leading contract soon, with retro pay for the money they owe them, you haven’t been anything yet.
Kirby needs to shut up, be focused on the employees and stop bullying them into cutting corners! The amount of pressure put upon employees is worthy of a class action lawsuit. What attorney wants to take this on?
If the public only knew, they would be even more up in arms! Scott Kirby needs to go along with everyone from upper management!
How does this guy keep finding work in the aviation industry?