United Airlines started accepting applications for its flight academy on Tuesday. This was part of an effort to hire 10,000 pilots by 2030 as more of his Airmen reach the federally required retirement age of 65.
The airline announced in February 2020 that it had bought a flight school, but the Covid pandemic forced it to postpone its training plans. United is now resuming its plans to replenish the pilot ranks and prepare for growth when the demand for travel returns. It was announced last week that it would be hiring pilots again, starting with 300 candidates whose hiring process has been halted by the pandemic.
United’s flight school is designed to provide training for pilots with little to no experience. United wants to train 5,000 pilots and aims to have half of them be women and people of color. Just over 7% of United’s 12,000+ pilots are women and 13% are people of color, United said.
The first class of 20 pilots will begin in the third quarter with a graduation date in the first half of 2022, United said.
A pilot walks past United Airlines planes parked outside the gates of San Francisco International Airport on April 12, 2020 in San Francisco, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
United and other airlines have increased their pilot recruitment in recent years. Students can apply for the United Aviate Recruiting program, which offers contingent vacancies to candidates as they gain experience while training and working with smaller airlines. It could take about five years for a student to start aviation school to get a job at United.
United declined to say how much the aviation academy would cost students, but said it would fund $ 1.2 million in scholarships “to help remove the financial barriers to career path access for airline pilots for generations of women and people of color. JPMorgan Chase said this will add an additional $ 1.2 million in grants to help increase diversity.
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