The United Aviate Academy
flight school is celebrating the graduation of its inaugural class of pilots, an important step towards
training the next generation of aviators.
The inaugural graduating class includes 51 students,
marking the next step towards the airline’s goal to train about
5,000 new pilots at the school by 2030.
To support its planned growth, United hired about 2,400 pilots in 2022
and plans to hire another 2,500 this year, intending to add
at least 10,000 pilots by the end of this decade.
“United is leading the industry in the
training, recruitment and hiring of the next generation of
talented commercial pilots and the progress we’ve made at United
Aviate Academy after just one year is another example of an
airline where good leads the way,” said United CEO, Scott
Kirby. “I’m so proud of
this first class of graduates – they’ve taken an important first
step in their career and they reflect our commitment to hiring
people who exceed the highest professional and safety standards. I
look forward to eventually welcoming them to our United team and I
can’t wait to see them flying our new United Next planes in the
years to come.”
United Aviate Academy graduates can
continue to build flight time and leadership experience while
continuing within the United Aviate pilot career development
program’s ecosystem.
Some graduates will work as Certified Flight
Instructors at the academy to continue accruing the 1,500 required
flying hours – a common industry practice for aspiring pilots –
while others will build experience at participating flight schools
or universities, including Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University,
Purdue University and Hampton University.
The United Aviate
program then encourages graduates to eventually fly for an United
Express carrier, take on leadership roles at an Aviate
participating Part 135 operator, or become a Fleet Technical
Instructor at United to complete their training.
Aviate
participants can expect to become a United pilot within about six
years of graduating from United Aviate Academy.
United currently has more than 14,000
pilots.
Captains of United’s Boeing 787s and 777s can earn
more than $350,000 per year plus a rich package of benefits. In
addition, United pilots receive one of the highest 401(k) matches
in the U.S. – 16% of base pay.
While the airline
continues to see strong interest in pilot roles from military and
civilian backgrounds as well as from other carriers, for many
people becoming a pilot seems not only out of reach financially,
but completely unimaginable.
According to the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics, only 5.6% of pilots are women and 6% are
people of color. And training to achieve a commercial pilot’s
license in the U.S. can cost at least $100,000, with supplementary
costs adding to the financial burden.
To help address financial barriers to entry,
United and JPMorgan Chase & Co. established a scholarship fund in
2020 and are working with industry partners to award more than $5 million in
scholarships for prospective academy students. In addition, Boeing
has committed funding to expand the program this year.
In the flight school’s first
year of operations, collectively, the students have flown more
than 2 million miles, achieved more than 250 aviation
certificates, and completed more than 68,000 takeoffs and
landings.
The aspiring pilots also organized 174 “Pool Dunks” in
the campus swimming pool, a new tradition that commemorates each
time a student completes a solo flight for the first time.
The 340,000 square-foot facility at Phoenix Goodyear Airport
features:
– Forty late-model
Cirrus SR-20 series single-engine aircraft, which feature advanced
safety characteristics;
– Seven FRASCA flight simulators;
– Nearly
50,000 square feet of office space;
– Multiple aircraft hangars;
–
Dormitory rooms for student housing with ample room for expansion;
–
Proximity to many auxiliary airfields in the Phoenix area; and
–
Favorable weather for year-round flight training.
The flight school currently has more than 240 students.
