Originally Posted by SpinTwo

The number provided is simply those who were invited to interview. The overall acceptance rate for the program as a whole becomes far more abysmal once other factors are applied.

Not everyone enrolled will be invited to interview and continue the process. Applications are reviewed on a case by case basis and many don’t make the cut allowing the candidate to progress to the next step. For these candidates, the process ends there. A conditional job offer from ExpressJet and an offer to interview through the Aviate program are not mutually exclusive.

Additionally, many pilots aren’t even eligible to apply due to being unsuccessful in the previous CPP program.

Lastly, pilots will be turned down at the very last minute during the final review process after a successful interview. Many of these cases have yielded zero evidence of disciplinary action, non-accepted sick calls or other infractions in their employee work files. This is after significant time, money and resources are expended by the employee to be successful in the program and after safely flying thousands of United’s passengers, many as pilot in command.

The Aviate program is in no way comparable to the flow-through at AAG regional carriers. The initial interview (Envoy, PSA, Piedmont) is the only interview the candidate will see. If successful, they will flow to American Airlines barring any current disciplinary action in their employee file.

This is significant in the fact that the pilot knows from day one of Indoc that they will be transitioning to American when their seniority number arrives. The same cannot be said for successful candidates in the Aviate program.

Pilots turned down during any stage of the Aviate program have expended significant time away from family in hotels during initial training (3-5 months straight), opportunity cost in the way of lost seniority at a future carrier, and in many cases they have accepted tens of thousands of dollars in sign-on bonuses which must be paid back should they decide to leave for greener pastures. In many cases this monetarily handcuffs pilots to continue to fly passengers for an airline which ultimately did not accept them.

The Aviate program is a recruitment tool designed to bring prospective candidates through the door to staff United’s regional feed. In many cases candidates are misinformed about the process by recruiters and lead to believe their chances are much higher than they actually are. For them, this program is seen as a bait-and-switch tactic. A large number of new hires have left the school house in the initial days of training once this reality is made known.

Prospective candidates should thoroughly educate themselves on the good, bad and ugly of the Aviate program and proceed forward accordingly.