United Airlines opens its own flight school to help attract pilots

United Airlines opens its own flight school to help attract pilots

Transcript¹

Airlines are in need of pilots. The situation was exacerbated² during the pandemic when scores of veteran pilots took buyouts and early retirement³ packages.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

The airline industry is trying to navigate⁴ through some turbulence⁵ right now. Across the country, companies say they just don't have enough pilots. And some have even had to park jets and cut service because of the shortage. Looking for innovative⁶ ways to recruit and retain, one major airline is set to open its own flight school. Here's NPR's David Schaper.

DAVID SCHAPER, BYLINE⁷: To an airline, well-trained pilots are as essential as planes and fuel. But right now, pilots are in very short supply.

FAYE MALARKEY BLACK: The entire airline industry has been facing a pilot shortage for the last decade.

SCHAPER: That's Faye Malarkey Black, CEO of the Regional Airlines Association, a group representing smaller carriers, like Endeavor, Envoy⁸, GoJet and SkyWest, which fly passengers for the major airlines branded as Delta⁹ Connection, American Eagle and United Express. Black says with the wave of baby boomers nearing retirement age, the industry was already facing a pilot shortage. And the pandemic made it much worse, as major airlines offered incentives¹⁰ for many veteran pilots to take early retirement, while the FAA's issuance of new pilot certificates nearly ground to a halt. So when air travel demand recovered much more quickly than anticipated, Black says the big airlines hired a lot of pilots away from their smaller regional partners.

BLACK: You know, that propensity¹¹ for a major airline to hire from a regional airline has always been the case. And that is the natural career order. We don't want to stop that. But the issue we have to respect and appreciate is that that is now happening on steroids.

SCHAPER: So to recruit more pilots, the usually low-paying regional airlines are now sharply increasing pay. Starting salaries that were in the $25,000 to $40,000-a-year range can now top 50K or more. Once at the mainline airlines, pilots average six figures-plus. But long before being able to make that kind of money, pilots must have 1,500 hours of flight time and significant training, which can be expensive and take years.

ALLISON MCKAY: Cost is a huge factor.

SCHAPER: Allison McKay heads up Women in Aviation International. And she says pilot training could cost $80,000 to $100,000 or more. That's an amount that traditional student aid and loan programs don't come close to covering.

MCKAY: Scholarships are out there, and money is available, but it's still very expensive.

SCHAPER: Some airlines are helping¹² defray those costs while recruiting and training a new generation of pilots.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLANE ENGINE STARTING)

SCHAPER: And United Airlines has gone so far as to open its own flight school. It's called United Aviate Academy, here at Phoenix¹³ Goodyear Airport just outside of Phoenix, Ariz., where the school has 25 of these small Cirrus TRAC SR20 training airplanes and is buying 25 more.

Captain Curtis Brunjes is a United pilot and Aviate's managing director. He explains why the airline wants its own flight school.

CURTIS BRUNJES: There's two reasons. One is supply and demand, making sure there's an adequate supply of pilots for United. And the second is we think we can make some real inroads in the quality of training.

SCHAPER: On the quality side, Brunjes says, the Aviate Academy will better focus on the technical skills needed to pilot commercial jetliners.

BRUNJES: One example of that is that we'll be doing upset recovery - so very, very advanced kind of acrobatic training with our pilots. It's something that professional flight-training organizations don't do. It's not mandated¹⁴ by the FAA. It represents United innovating¹⁵ and doing something above and beyond the minimum.

SCHAPER: Brunjes says he became a pilot because his father was one. And his path was traditional, going through a university aviation program before joining the military to gain flight hours and experience. But that route doesn't produce nearly as many pilots as it used to. So to help bring nontraditional candidates in, Brunjes says the airline is picking up a critical cost for pilots accepted into its program.

BRUNJES: United is paying for the private pilot certification for 100% of our students. So the first part of the training United is sponsoring. We're paying for it.

SCHAPER: That's significant, right?

BRUNJES: That's significant. It's $17,000.

SCHAPER: In addition, United is helping make loans available to cover the rest of the $70,000 cost of flight school and training by guaranteeing student pilots a job once they complete it.

BRUNJES: By granting this private pilot certification, the loan provider doesn't need to provide the loan until we've already certified¹⁶ the pilot and offered them a job at United Airlines. So when they apply for the loan, the loan provider understands that this is someone who has a conditional¹⁷ job offer at United already.

RICKI FOSTER: Thank you. All right, she looks ready to go.

SCHAPER: It's that kind of assistance that helped close the deal for Ricki Foster. With her flight instructor¹⁸ next to her, starts up this small, propeller-driven plane and guides it toward the runway.

FOSTER: ...Foxtrot ready for takeoff.

SCHAPER: The 38-year-old Black woman, who was born and raised in Jamaica, never dreamed flying could be her career.

FOSTER: Me - it seemed so unlikely and impossible because I didn't see any woman look like me being a pilot.

SCHAPER: Foster is one of 30 pilot candidates in United's first class out of 7,000 initial applicants¹⁹. Eighty percent percent of this class is women and people of color. The academy's goal is to eventually produce 500 new airline pilots a year.

David Schaper, NPR News, Goodyear, Ariz.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHRISTOFFER MOE DITLEVSEN'S "THE GUIDING LIGHT")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 exacerbated   

v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The symptoms may be exacerbated by certain drugs. 这些症状可能会因为某些药物而加重。
• The drugs they gave her only exacerbated the pain. 他们给她吃的药只是加重了她的痛楚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

4 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

5 turbulence   

n.喧嚣，狂暴，骚乱，湍流

参考例句：

• The turbulence caused the plane to turn over.空气的激流导致飞机翻转。
• The world advances amidst turbulence.世界在动荡中前进。

6 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

7 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

8 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

9 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

10 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

11 propensity   

n.倾向；习性

参考例句：

• He has a propensity for drinking too much alcohol.他有酗酒的倾向。
• She hasn't reckoned on his propensity for violence.她不曾料到他有暴力倾向。

12 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

13 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

14 mandated   

adj. 委托统治的

参考例句：

• Mandated desegregation of public schools. 命令解除公立学校中的种族隔离
• Britain was mandated to govern the former colony of German East Africa. 英国受权代管德国在东非的前殖民地。

15 innovating   

v.改革，创新( innovate的现在分词 )；引入（新事物、思想或方法），

参考例句：

• In this new century, the company keeps innovating and developing new products. 新世纪伊始，公司全面实施形象工程及整合营销，不断改革创新，开发高新产品。 来自互联网
• Beijing is backward most prime cause is innovating at system lack. 北京落后的最根本原因在于制度缺乏创新。 来自互联网

16 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

17 conditional   

adj.条件的，带有条件的

参考例句：

• My agreement is conditional on your help.你肯帮助我才同意。
• There are two forms of most-favored-nation treatment:conditional and unconditional.最惠国待遇有两种形式:有条件的和无条件的。

18 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

19 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。