US FAA weighs curbing new routes for United after safety incidents, Bloomberg reports

(Reuters) -The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is considering measures to curb growth at United Airlines, including preventing the carrier from adding new routes, following a series of safety incidents, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday.

The regulator has discussed temporary actions it may take with the airline’s leadership in recent days, Bloomberg said, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

United also may be barred from flying paying customers on newly delivered aircraft, the report said.

“The FAA’s safety assurance system routinely monitors all aspects of an airline’s operation,” the agency said in a statement on Saturday.

United did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

U.S. safety regulators will boost scrutiny of United after several recent safety incidents, the Chicago-based airline said on Friday.

On March 15, an external panel was found to be missing from a United aircraft when it landed in Oregon, prompting an FAA investigation. Before that, a Boeing (NYSE:) 737 MAX in its fleet rolled onto the grass in Houston. A United-operated Boeing 777-200 bound for Japan lost a tire after takeoff from San Francisco and was diverted to Los Angeles, where it landed safely.

United’s corporate safety vice president, Sasha Johnson, said in a memo that over the next several weeks employees will see more of a presence by the FAA “in our operation as they begin to review some of our work processes, manuals and facilities.”