United Airlines will be donating flights to ship baby formula from Europe to the United States as part of the White House’s “Operation Fly Formula.”
United Airlines is set to become the first major airline to donate flights to help ship baby formula from Europe to the U.S. which has been facing a baby formula shortage, according to CNN. United’s donations are a part of the White House’s initiative, “Operation Fly Formula,” to bring more than 300,000 pounds of formula.
United’s efforts will be the third “Operation Fly Formula” flight for the first shipment of Kendamil baby formula, according to a news release from the White House.
“These Operation Fly Formula flights donated by United Airlines will contain over 300,000 pounds or approximately 3.7 million 8-ounce bottle equivalents of Kendamil infant formula and will begin shipping on June 9. These flights will contain approximately 3.2 million 8-ounce bottle equivalents of Kendamil Classic Stage 1 and 540,000 8-ounce bottle equivalents of Kendamil Organic,” the White House says.
According to the New York Times, the move comes days after the Food and Drug Administration relaxed import regulations, allowing Kendal Nutricare, which makes Kendamil baby formula, to come to the U.S.
CNN says that United will fly more than 300,000 pounds of Kendamil baby formula starting on June 9 which will be distributed nationwide to retailers and online. The White House says Target stores across the country will have the formula from the first shipment in the next few weeks.
The Washington Post said last month that about 192 Republicans voted against providing funding to the FDA to assist with the baby formula shortage. However, the bill did eventually pass 231 to 192 and some Republicans broke ranks to help back the funding of $28 million.
©2022 Cox Media Group
