Beleaguered United Airlines, an operating unit of United Continental Holdings (NYSE:UAL), admitted that details of its cockpit security have been made public. UAL stock was off slightly in premarket trading this morning.
United said in a “Safety Alert” emailed to employees that information regarding its flight deck access security procedures “may have been compromised,” according to a CBS News report on Sunday. The email to employees, sent on Saturday, was short on specifics. But the airline said it was working on a “corrective action plan,” noting that pilots have been asked to review procedures during briefings, the network reported.
While the leak followed a series of cyber-attacks affecting more than 200,000 computers in over 150 countries around the world, United spokesperson Maddie King was quoted by various media that the security information was “was inadvertently made public” but not part of a “breach” in the company’s computers.
UAL stock crashed last month after a passenger was dragged off a plane to seat airline employees. What followed was a widely acknowledged public relations failure.
InvestorPlace contributor Dana Blakenhorn pointed out earlier this month, things could be worse for UAL stock. “It has the financial strength to get past its present scandal and stocks subject to scandals like this usually come back in time. It won’t come back immediately, but it most likely will come back.” He noted that of all the major U.S. airlines, UAL is among the cheapest.
UAL stock is up almost 9% this month compared to more than 7% for American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL).
