United Airlines prepares $100 million expansion of pilot training center
Key takeaways:
- The development will cost United around $100 million.
- United and other carriers are running to engage pilots as travel demand yields.
- United hopes to add almost 2,000 pilots this year.
United Airlines intends to break ground Wednesday on the addition of its training center in Denver, an initiative to get thousands of pilots prepared to fly passengers as the carrier goes on a hiring spree.
The project will cost approximately $100 million. The new four-story facility at its training campus will let United add six new flight simulators. The airline schedules to add six simulators later on. It presently has space for 40 simulators.
After a large order last year, the new simulators will be ready for pilots on the Boeing 737 Max and Airbus jetliners and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Marc Champion, managing director of the flight training center, told CNBC.
The carrier hopes the project to be finished before the end of next year. Champion stated the training center expansion project has been in the works for almost a year.
Like other carriers, United faces fierce competition for pilots as the industry rebounds from the Covid pandemic. Champion stated the airline is preparing to hire nearly 10,000 pilots between now and the end of the decade.
The Chicago-based carrier anticipates adding about 2,000 pilots this year.