ReadOnly7

^^ pretty much THIS!

I have long been against the practice of hiring less qualified special interest pilots to fulfill diversity goals....because it compromises standards and safety. What United is trying to do is actually the best ATTEMPT to make a difference that I’ve seen.

And, as pointed out earlier, all these individuals are junior to me, so I don’t really care if they hire black, brown, yellow, red, purple....just hire plenty of people and make sure they meet the standards.

I think the most vocally opposed to all of this either a)don’t work here and want to, b) have a kid who is going to be affected by this, or c) are politically geared to be offended by it.

* I will add my bit of bias and say that I think the ladies are catching a free ride off of the ACTUAL minorities. I’m not a newbie to this industry, and I’ve literally NEVER seen a barrier to entry for a female.

Seneca Pilot

Quite the opposite. The desire for female candidates is high but they are by and large not interested. Not just in aviation but STEM in general. I was asked to speak to my son's class about being a pilot recently. The boys were almost all on the edge of their seat and wowed by the airplane, but with the exception of one girl who's father is a private pilot I know personally, the girls in the class were talking, texting, or just bored. You can't force applicants from a pool that isn't interested.

Oletimer

I learned that lesson recently. One of my sons really didn't want to progress and "compete" in baseball. He liked being on the team, but he wasn't fully invested in the entire work program of doing the individual tasks every single day to stay in the batting line up.

If someone's mind is somewhere else and on something else you can't make them do it. I could put the ball on the Tee and he would rather be somewhere else.

The lesson is " you can't want it for someone else more than you want it for your own self."

If you force someone, trick some one, or have to dangle incentives in front of someone in order to accept the grind, they won't last. They won't have the stick-to-itiveness to grind it out.

in the case of girls, I am told that if a girl isn't into science by Jr. High School, they just won't gravitate into those lanes. Jr. High and High School is where most of the kids start to find what motivates them and interests them. We (or the industry), or UAL HR can't want it for them.

Oletimer

Good for you.

My story is not that surprising or unusual.

Everyone should be willing to bust their butt to make it happen.

You're dealing with the C19 economy and that sucks. I get it.

Most of us had to deal with the deregulation era, sluggish and bloated 90's with no movement, and Post 9-11 career stagnation, and the regional jets sucking jobs away from the majors.

It is what it is.

Pay your dues, earn your seat

biggun

The program and the underlying goals behind it are pretty easy to read and interpret.

instead of having a goal set of "hire the best, brightest, and most talented" we have a goal to hire the most diverse work force of pilots on the planet.

The overall goal is the problem. I can't tell you how many special video presentations, etc., I have seen touting the number of female pilots we have. Special videos on percentages, etc. I've seen so many "all female crew" videos it's making me sick. These girls that are in these videos must be embarrassed at what the airline is doing. The female pilots I know and respect just want to come to work and do their job and go home with no fanfare, etc. It's just another day at the office for them.

The initiative in question is "flawed." It should NOT be about "finding minority candidates." It should be about simply HIRING the best QUALIFIED candidates. The "goal" is flawed and so is the logic behind it.

The public pandering that the Big U is doing in this area is a bit embarrassing. Moreover, it degrades, minimizes and marginalizes the profession. Further, it may result in lower qualifications and have downward pressure on pilot pay rates. Lastly, we haven't seen the outcome yet: but it may definitely increase check airman workload and degrade safety.

FlyPurdue

I think there are a lot of good arguments in this thread, and once again (like most things now) if you scrub away the emotion and name calling - most people are reasonable and agree on the big picture of never sacrificing quality on an airliner flight deck.

Speaking exclusively about the Aviate 0 —> Hero academy, how do we determine who is the most qualified for flight training? This is not rhetorical. In my opinion I see very little specific value that the academy offers verses any other Aviate pathway. I’m not saying it is not a great flight school, and I’m not saying Aviate doesn’t provide value - I just want to understand what makes this path better compared to mom and pop flight school then joining Aviate or a university program (like Purdue) and then joining Aviate.

baseball

I speak with young people all the time about aviation.

Word of this program has already spread to many high school age kids.

Of the two I have spoken to recently (both white males), they plan to attend college that has a flight school. They perceive since they are white males that the aviate program isn't for them. In that way, they keep their options open to other airlines down the road.

I notice you are a boilermaker. Purdue has a great reputation. As in the best. Many can't afford that, so they will be looking for quality schools within about a 5 to 6 hour drive from home that have respectable aviation programs.

As far as who gets into the program...well, I think that's pretty obvious.

baseball

You make two very good points.
1. The line pilots aren't driving these changes
2. The line pilots (Captains) will be burdened by these changes

I brief my FO's to the fly jet as if they were the Captain. if I have a question as to what you are doing or why, I will ask. I don't consider myself a flight instructor. I do believe i am a mentor, and in that sense I display behavior that is worth modeling. Captains primary jobs are in leadership, communication to the team, task prioritization, and risk management. If we get bogged down in flight instruction that will take away from the big 4.

oldmako

You're also supposed to know where the best happy hours are.

Dave Fitzgerald

The real test is where the best fishing is!