The ability of federal safety regulators to oversee airplane maintenance at United Airlines has been hindered by inadequate staffing, high employee turnover and the improper use of virtual inspections instead of on-site reviews in some cases, according to a government watchdog audit released Friday.
The U.S. Transportation Department's inspector general said the Federal Aviation Administration lacks sufficient staffing and workforce planning to effectively monitor United’s large fleet. Past audits by the government watchdog also highlighted FAA challenges overseeing other airline maintenance programs, including at American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Allegiant Air.
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The FAA declined to comment on the findings but referred The Associated Press to a letter it sent the inspector general's office that was included in the audit report. In it, the FAA said it agreed with most of the recommendations and was taking steps to address them by the end of the year.
“FAA will implement a more systemic approach to strengthen inspector capacity and will take other measures to ensure that staffing levels remain sufficient to meet surveillance requirements,” the letter said.
The recommendations included a reevaluation of staffing rules, an independent workplace survey of inspector workloads and office culture, and improved training on accessing and using United's safety data — a current gap that the report said currently keeps inspectors from fully evaluating maintenance issues and safety risk trends.
In a statement to AP, United said it works closely with the FAA on a daily basis in addition to employing its own internal safety management system.
“United has long advocated in favor of providing the FAA with the resources it needs for its important work," the carrier said.
The inspector general's office said the audit was conducted between May 2024 and December 2025, amid a series of maintenance-linked incidents at United.
It found that the FAA sometimes had its personnel conduct inspections “virtually” when it lacked staffing or funding for travel even though agency policy requires postponing reviews that can't be done on site. Doing the work remotely can create safety risks because inspectors may miss or misidentify maintenance problems, the reported stated.
“Inspectors we spoke with stated that their front-line managers instructed them to perform inspections virtually rather than postponing inspections,” the report said.
The audit also found that ongoing staffing shortages at the FAA inspection offices tasked with United's oversight have resulted in fewer inspections being conducted, limited surveillance of the carrier's maintenance operations and an “overall loss of institutional knowledge.”
In March 2024, passengers had to be evacuated from a United plane that rolled off a runway after landing in Houston. The next day, a United jetliner bound for Japan lost a tire while taking off from San Francisco but later landed safely in Los Angeles.
In December 2025, a United flight experienced an engine failure during takeoff from Dulles International Airport before safely returning to the airport.
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Associated Press writer Josh Funk contributed.