United Airlines has been forced to admit that it is not allowed to open routes to new cities while a probe by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) into safety standards at the Chicago-based carrier is ongoing.
The revelation came to light after United announced late last week that it would no longer be opening two new routes from Newark to Faro, Portugal and Cebu, Philippines, via Tokyo Narita as planned.
The new year-round service to Cebu was due to launch in just a few short months on July 31, while a planned May 24 launch of a new summer seasonal route to Faro on Portugal’s Algarve won’t go ahead this year at all.
United is still hoping to launch its eagerly anticipated new service to Cebu in October, along with another new route from Newark to Marrakesh, Morocco – although, of course, that will depend on the progress of the FAA probe.
Following an embarrassing slew of safety mishaps, United’s vice president of corporate…