United left red-faced over 9/11 flights

Oops!

Our friends at United Airlines were left red-faced yesterday when they inadvertently reinstated the flight numbers - 93 and 175 - of planes that perished during the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

United officials have spent the last 24 hours in full damage control over the embarrassing mixup and have issued an apology on Facebook. The airline now says it will permanently retire the numbers.

Duh! That should have been done on 9/12!

The ill-fated 9/11 Flight 175 originated in Boston bound for Los Angeles but was hijacked and flown into the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York. Flight 93 took off from Newark, N.J., and crashed in a Pennsylvania field after at attempt by passengers to wrest control of the plane from terrorists.

United representatives told Reuters news agency the change was the result of oversight that came up as United works to align its operations with merger partner Continental Airlines. Apparently, Continental uses the flight numbers, which came up in an automated system and the carriers failed to notice it until it was brought to their attention.

Out of respect for all those who perished in the 9/11 crashes, may I suggest all airlines retire the flight numbers of the planes lost that day.