How United Airlines' Incidents Compare to Other Carriers'

United Airlines made national headlines after a string of incidents—including an engine fire and a panel going missing midair—were reported on its flights to and from the U.S. since the beginning of the month.

Its CEO, Scott Kirby, told customers on March 18 that the incidents were "all unrelated," and that the airline was reviewing its safety training for employees. "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," Kirby wrote in a letter the airline shared with Newsweek.

"In the past few years, we've done a lot at United to build a new culture, improve our business and earn your trust. I'm confident that we'll learn the right lessons from these recent incidents and continue to run an operation that puts safety first and makes our employees and customers proud," he added.

While the sheer number of incidents involving United's planes has attracted the attention of the public, such occurrences are common on aircraft flying anywhere in the world. A bird strike, an engine failure or a cracked windshield don't normally end up in the news, but AeroInside, a website that tracks aviation incidents, shows they're common safety incidents that may cause a flight to be diverted as a precautionary measure.

The heightened scrutiny of United Airlines follows reports of incidents involving the plane manufacturer Boeing. In January, a panel blew off an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max as it flew over Oregon, causing passengers to hang on to each other and the aircraft to avoid being sucked out the plane.

Newsweek put together timelines for three major U.S. airlines—American, Delta and United—to compare the number of incidents involving the companies' planes in the past 12 months. Newsweek contacted American Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines for comment by email.

This is a timeline of the safety incidents and airplane accidents involving American Airlines between March 2023 and March 2024, as reported by AeroInside.

• March 2023: There were five incidents, including a bird strike on a flight from Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas, to Tampa, Florida, and an engine shutdown during a flight from Phoenix to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
• April 2023: There were four incidents involving flaps problems and bird strikes.
• May 2023: There were two incidents due to a loss of communications on approach on a flight from Dallas–Fort Worth to Querétaro, Mexico, and tire and wind damage upon landing on a flight from New York to Dallas–Fort Worth.
• June 2023: There were two incidents caused by a hydraulic failure on a flight from Los Angeles to Boston and a near collision between go-around and takeoff on a flight leaving Dallas–Fort Worth and headed to Minneapolis.
• July 2023: There were seven incidents, including engine power loss, a burning smell in the cabin and a technical problem with the toilets.
• August 2023: There were seven incidents, including a bird strike, a suspected fuel leak, unsafe gear and a loud bump on the departure roll.
• September 2023: There were three incidents, including a near collision on departure involving a plane leaving from Phoenix.
• October 2023: There were four incidents, including a loss of cabin pressure and unreliable airspeed.
• November 2023: There were six incidents, including a rejected takeoff, a failure of the cabin to pressurize and the failure of a generator.
• December 2023: There were six incidents, including the incapacitation of the first officer, a passenger injury and dragging brakes on takeoff.
• January 2024: There were six incidents, including engine and flaps problems.
• February 2024: There were three incidents, including a cracked windshield and a flight from Washington, D.C. to Dallas–Fort Worth that overran the runway on landing.
• March 2024: As of March 22, there have been eight incidents, including engine problems, a cargo door appearing to be open and turbulence that injured two passengers.

This is a timeline of the safety incidents and airplane accidents involving Delta Airlines between March 2023 and March 2024, as reported by AeroInside.

• March 2023: There were five incidents, including a fuel leak, an engine problem and a tail strike on landing.
• April 2023: There were eight incidents, including flooding on board a flight from Prague to New York and a lightning strike on two planes, both flying within the U.S.
• May 2023: There were three incidents, including a lightning strike and the smell of smoke in the cabin.
• June 2023: There were five incidents, including a ground worker being ingested in an engine and a landing gear not retracting.
• July 2023: There were five incidents, including a suspected fuel leak and a nose gear not extending on landing.
• August 2023: There were eight incidents, including cabin-pressure problems and an electrical odor in the cockpit. A plane flying from Richmond, Virginia, to Atlanta also reported a burst tire on landing, which forced passengers to be evacuated.
• September 2023: There were seven incidents, including turbulence on a flight from Milan to Atlanta that injured 17 passengers and crew members.
• October 2023: There were five incidents, including a bird strike.
• November 2023: There were two incidents, including pressurization and communications problems.
• December 2023: There were five incidents, including cabin-pressure problems and a deicing failure.
• January 2024: There were six incidents, including engine problems and fumes on board.
• February 2024: There were eight incidents, including turbulence on a flight from New York to Bogotá, Colombia, which injured four cabin crew and one passenger.
• March 2024: As of March 22, there have been three incidents due to an engine problem, flaps up on landing and a possible flight-control issue.

This is a timeline of the safety incidents and airplane accidents involving United Airlines between March 2023 and March 2024, as reported by AeroInside.

• March 2023: There were six incidents, including engine problems, a flaps failure, tires that blew on departure and a captain being incapacitated.
• April 2023: There were three incidents, including an inability to retract the landing gear on a flight to Denver and a window popping off during takeoff on a flight from Hartford, Connecticut, to Washington, D.C.
• May 2023: There were five incidents, including cracked windshields, rudder issues and a fire.
• June 2023: There were five incidents, including a loss of cabin pressure, smoke and fumes in the cockpit and a tail strike on landing.
• July 2023: There were three incidents, including a fire breaking out underneath a plane leaving Denver International Airport and an emergency slide dropping from a plane as it neared Chicago O'Hare International Airport.
• August 2023: There were six incidents, including a hard landing and pilots filing a safety report.
• September 2023: There were three incidents, including an engine fire and a cooling-system issue.
• October 2023: There were five incidents, including electrical problems, tire damage on landing and engine fire indication.
• November 2023: There were 11 incidents, including a rejected takeoff due to smoke on board, a nose-gear door issue, a tail scrape on departure, loss of all radios and severe turbulence that injured two flight attendants and a passenger.
• December 2023: There were five incidents, including a burning odor on board, engine problems and two bird strikes.
• January 2024: There were seven incidents, including a loss of cabin pressure and a cracked windshield.
• February 2024: There were seven incidents, including a tail strike on departure, an engine shutdown mid-flight and a lightning strike.
• March 2024: As of March 22, there have been 13 incidents, including gear problems on departure, a panel dropping mid-air and severe turbulence that injured 16 passengers and crew members. For more details, check out our previous coverage.