"A clear path to United" is what is declared on United and other United Express regional websites. A clear path, it is not.

The CPP was a disaster. There were hopes that this Aviate program would exceed where the CPP failed. However, that is not the case. It is an updated version (new website, new interview process, better communication) of the CPP, but the acceptance rate is far from making it a "clear path to United."

If United wanted the Aviate program to be a far superior product than the CPP, they would have their success rate over 90%; at least initially. Get the word out that if you want to fly for United you'd have to fly for one of our UAX carriers first. A direct path to United should be through one of our UAX carriers. They could have done what they're doing now, cherry-pick who they want to invite to the interview. Interview the individuals and only give Thanks But No Thanks (TBNT) emails to a handful of individuals who United considered too great of a risk.

If United is so concerned about who flys their passengers, maybe they should be more involved in the pilot hiring process at the regional level. When you give a TBNT email to someone who has flown your passengers for 5, 10, 15, or even 30 years, and then the very next day the pilot gets on the PA and says, "Welcome aboard United Express flight....." It's a kick in the teeth and more UAX pilots will be lost to United's competitors (Southwest, Delta, American, JetBlue, Spirit, etc.). United wants to grow, but I fear that the low success rate of this program is going to make it much more difficult for United to find pilots in the near future.

I do like one aspect of the Aviate program. The pilot mentorship. Pilots who get the CJO from United (prior to the final review), are assigned a United pilot mentor. From my understanding, this pilot mentor calls the CJO pilot from time to time and asks questions on how the CJO pilot would handle an MX or customer service problem. Once answered, the United pilot mentor might say, "Good job, but have you thought about saying it like this,.... or adding this to the conversation to the passenger... etc." Great idea! I wish they would open this up to every UAX regional pilot who would be interested in receiving this valuable mentorship. <-- this helps bring the CJO pilot closer to United's core4 culture. Again, brilliant! I think that United should also force its regional partners to train its flight crew members on core4 as well.

One last point, I think the Hogan test shouldn't be used as a determination to one's employment. In this case, it should be left up to the United MEC. The United pilots know what type of personality they want in the seat next to them. They know who can and will be a good CRM and TEM partner in the skies. Unfortunately, the United CPOs' don't even have much of a say anymore. The United MEC should have much more involvement in the decision-making process on who is given a job as a pilot for United Airlines.