McKeon Calls for Safety Audit of United Airlines in the Wake of Two Boeing Plane Crashes

(TRENTON) – As investigations into tragic plane crashes involving Boeing 737 Max 8 aircrafts continue, Assemblyman John McKeon (D-Essex, Morris) sent a letter to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey today demanding the agency conduct an audit of United Airlines’ safety practices. He released the following statement:

“A tragedy is all the more heartbreaking if we realize if it could have been avoided. With each new detail that emerges about the crashes of two Boeing 737 Max 8 planes – which resulted in the death of 346 people total – it’s become clear that critical safety tools that could have averted these disasters were not in place. The safety features were optional and available for purchase separately.

“Safety should never be optional. Every plane in the sky should be equipped with all available safety features for the good of passengers, pilots and staff. Thankfully, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines prioritized the safety of all aboard their aircrafts and installed the optional features. However, United Airlines, the only other American-owned airline carrier operating Boeing 737 Max models, opted not to install the safety tools.

“United Airlines is by far New Jersey’s largest airline. It carries 28 million passengers per year, including 15 million at Newark alone. No other airline carries more than two million. Considering how many people in New Jersey fly on United, it’s deeply troubling that they chose not to take crucial precautionary safety measures on the Boeing 737 models. By not doing so, they put so many lives at risk.

 “The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey should require all carriers operating at its hubs to install every available safety feature on their planes, even if they are optional. We should never put a price on safety.”