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United works to get more planes back in service after hundreds were grounded during height of COVID-19 pandemic

During the height of the pandemic, United grounded 500 of its jets nationwide, including 100 in Houston. Now the airline is getting those jets back into service.

HOUSTON — At Bush Intercontinental Airport, United Airlines aircrafts are on the move. More passengers are flying which means they need more planes in the sky again.

"We're doing our part to make sure that everything is ready to go," said Michelle Pabor, a United Move team employee.

At the height of the pandemic, Untied had 500 jets grounded across the country. About 100 of those jets were parked at Bush. Now, things are starting to pick up and only 20 remain grounded in Houston.

"There's a lot of coordination that goes on behind the scenes," Pabor said.

Most planes are touched every four days in storage, but when it's time to get them out and ready to fly again, it's not as easy as flipping a switch.

A two to three-day process starts when move teams head out to the runways. They inspect the jet to ensure it's safe to tug back to the hangar for maintenance.

Last few weeks, those crews have been busy. 

"Seeing these planes go back into service has been a huge sigh of relief," Pabor said. "To know that we're moving in the right direction and things are looking up and that people are feeling good about flying again."

At United's Hangar X, maintenance crews go through every detail on the plane.

"It's getting ready to go back into service tomorrow," said Mark Green, a maintenance manager with United. "We check tire pressures."

They inspect everything from the exterior to the cabin and most importantly flight systems and controls in the cockpit.

"After this check, they'll button it up, and we'll tug it out and then we'll run the engines," Green said.

These planes haven't flown since April and getting them back into the sky safely, with passengers is the priority.

"It's just as safe today as it was before," Green said. "It's a good time to start flying again."

United said it's expanding to 230 flights out of Houston daily and resuming more than 50% of its schedule. That makes Bush Airport one of the airline's busiest hubs during the pandemic.


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