United Airlines has announced plans to begin hiring pilots later this year, the first time it has done so since 2001, to accommodate United’s schedule, including an increase in the number of international destinations it serves. United plans to begin accepting applications for new flight officer positions later this summer. After participating in United’s industry-leading training program, new pilots are expected to begin flying for the airline as early as December.

United expects to hire and train up to 100 pilots by the end of the year depending on changes to the mandatory pilot retirement age currently being considered by Congress. The new pilots will be in addition to the pilots that United will recall this year as it completes the recall of those who have been on furlough.

“This is good news for our pilots, our employees, our customers and our investors,” said Sean Donohue, Senior Vice President of Flight Operations and Onboard Service. “This enables us to ensure the highest level of service for our customers, while maintaining an efficient, flexible schedule.”

Captain Hank Krakowski, Vice President of Flight Operations, noted, “We look forward to welcoming our new colleagues to United, where they will join a group of the world’s most experienced, most accomplished and best trained aviators. Our new hiring process, which we have reviewed with our pilot union, and which will include interviews by United line pilots, has been developed to identify a strong, diverse group of applicants who will go through extensive training and technical preparation at the company’s state-of-the-art Flight Training Center in Denver.”

United has developed a new online hiring process which includes an online application screening followed by in-person interviews. Prospective flight officer candidates should visit United’s website at http://www.united.com for further details on the hiring process.
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