For Americans who may be nervous about flying after seeing headlines about airline crashes, near misses, and communications issues, United Airlines has a message: Trust Captain Morgan. 

The message was not an encouragement to take the edge off with some rum, but instead featured a video from the director of United’s flight training center, Captain Miles Morgan.

In response to hundreds of delays following three system outages at Newark Liberty Airport, United sent an e-mail message from its chief executive, Scott Kirby, seeking to reassure potentially nervous flyers.

The e-mail directed recipients to a video of Mr. Morgan emphasizing the “intensive” training United’s pilots go through, as well as the systems on-board planes that allow pilots to see other aircraft in the event of an equipment outage.

“The truth is that all the flights in and out of EWR are absolutely safe. When there are FAA issues, such as technology outages or staffing shortages, the FAA requires all airlines to fly fewer aircraft to maintain the highest levels of safety,” Mr. Kirby said. “In short, neither the FAA nor United will ever compromise on safety.”

While the letter was meant to reassure fliers, some users on social media couldn’t get past Mr. Morgan’s name. 

One user asked on X, “United thought it would be reassuring for you to know you were in the good hands of … Captain Morgan?”

He shared what appeared to be an AI-generated picture of “Captain Morgan” dressed as an airline pilot, posing in a position similar to the figure on the rum bottles.

A user on Reddit wrote, “I was so confused by Captain Morgan — I thought we were supposed to set sail with Captain Morgan, not fly with him.”

“Was he with First Officer Jonathan Daniels?” another person joked.

United told the Sun the e-mail was sent to passengers who have upcoming flights to or through Newark’s airport, as well as its MileagePlus customers who live in the area. 

The e-mail and video come after a 45-minute ground stop on Sunday that was caused by the temporary failure of a backup air traffic control system. That came after two other incidents involving telecommunications outages. Newark is also facing staffing shortages at the air traffic control facility that oversees its airspace.