United Airlines ‘diversifies the cabin’ with a new flying school; 5K pilots recruit, half are women, people of color

CHICAGO (WLS) – The airline industry expects to recover from the pandemic within a few years, and United plans to diversify the cabin.

It launches a flying school United Aviate Academy with the aim of training 5 000 pilots by 2030. Half of them will be women and coloreds.

“I had the pleasure of flying with the Boeing 737, the Boeing 777 and now the Boeing 787,” said Gabrielle Harding, a United Airlines pilot.

During her growing up in Detroit, Harding said she had access to programs that sparked interest in flying, but she said many minorities were exposed to aviation.

“The fact that United has decided to reach out and diversify the cabin more is amazing in light of the cities in which United serves,” Harding said. “They are cosmopolitan urban cities.”

“It was in my blood, there was never a moment that I did not think I would become a pilot,” Kevin Mack said.

Mack was a regional pilot for Delta Airlines for five years, but changed gears.

“It was the area after 9/11 in which the airlines left and right went bankrupt and everyone shrank and fired people,” Mack said.

Mack said that this recruitment effort by United is coming at a different transition time for the aviation industry as a large number of pilots come closer to retiring.

That’s why United said it intends to break down barriers and give more aspiring pilots a more direct route to work.

Applications are now accepted on the United Aviate Academy website.