Why the FAA is very worried about United Airlines

Benjamin SnyderBy Benjamin SnyderManaging Editor
Benjamin SnyderManaging Editor

Benjamin Snyder is Fortune's managing editor, leading operations for the newsroom.

Prior to rejoining Fortune, he was a managing editor at Business Insider and has worked as an editor for Bloomberg, LinkedIn and CNBC, covering leadership stories, sports business, careers and business news. He started his career as a breaking news reporter at Fortune in 2014.

Photograph by Justin Sullivan — Getty Images

The Federal Aviation Administration is watching United Continental a little more closely these days due to violations regarding pilot qualification and scheduling.

The FAA listed its issues with the airline in a Feb. 6 letter, The Wall Street Journal reports. According to the article:

The letter, which called for a thorough overhaul of parts of United’s process for qualifying crew members, represents the most detailed indication yet of FAA worries about United’s internal safety oversight.

The letter was sent after warnings in January because of “four recent and separate ‘safety events and near misses.'” The letter also discusses scheduling issues, “which could include flying longer than the FAA allows,” per the Journal.

But a United spokeswoman told the newspaper that the FAA hasn’t taken action on the letter it sent. Additionally, she said that the FAA hasn’t “proposed any financial civil penalties,” but that the airline “fully supports” the FAA’s safety program.

In January, United reported that total revenue was $9.3 billion for the fourth quarter, a 0.2% decrease year-over-year.