Voluntary Unpaid leave

 According to a message from the pilots' union, United Airlines is requesting that its pilots take voluntary unpaid leave in May due to delays in Boeing delivery. In response to the delivery delay, United Airlines announced in a statement on Monday that "our forecasted block hours for 2024 have been reduced and we are offering our pilots voluntary programs for the month of May to reduce excess staffing." Additionally, it coincides with industry warnings of a mass pilot shortage as the workforce ages following Covid-19 furloughs.

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 According to the email, the voluntary initiatives can continue throughout the summer and fall. According to the offer, benefits will continue to be paid by the employer during the experimental program. The occurrence on Monday indicates that the effects of Boeing's manufacturing problems are being felt by airlines, particularly United, which operates 81% Boeing aircraft on its mainline. Following over a dozen occurrences, United claimed in a memo from March that the Federal Aviation Administration was looking into the airline more closely.

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 Prior to this, United had declared that it was stopping the hiring of new pilots "because of ongoing Boeing manufacturing delays and new aircraft certification." Due to Boeing reducing deliveries to the carrier by roughly 40%, Southwest Airlines, which only operates Boeing 737 aircraft, will also hire roughly 50% fewer pilots and 60% fewer flight attendants than anticipated this year. Additionally, capacity will be reduced from previous plans, providing a roughly 1% increase. The CEO of United, Scott Kirby, announced to investors in March that his company may purchase additional aircraft from rival Boeing company Airbus. Earlier in the year, he claimed that an Alaska Air incident—in which a Boeing 737 Max 9 plane lost a door plug on January 5 in midair, resulting in a hole in the plane's side—was the "straw that broke the camel's back" regarding its plans to receive deliveries of the Max 10 anytime soon. 

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Compared to American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, who only have roughly half of their fleets from Boeing, United uses a lot more Boeings. The 787 and 737 fleets are involved in the delivery problems, the union stated on Monday. No passengers were hurt when a United Boeing 737-800 touched down in Medford, Oregon on March 15; nevertheless, one external panel was missing. In March, there were further incidents involving a United Boeing that trailed hydraulic fluid, slipped off the runway, spat flames from an engine after takeoff, and lost a wheel after takeoff.

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In a statement to consumers in March, Kirby stated, "Even though these incidents are unrelated, I want you to know that they have our attention and have sharpened our focus." Since the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 incident, Boeing has been in the news. The airline has attempted to lay off pilots before. Due to a shortage of flights during the epidemic, airlines offered tens of thousands of furloughs and voluntary buyouts.