United Airlines plans $100 million expansion of pilot training center during hiring spree

A United Airlines passenger aircraft prepares to leave its gate and taxi to the runway at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, California.

The expansion of United Airlines' training center in Denver is intended to get thousands of pilots ready to fly passengers as the carrier goes on a hiring spree.

The project will cost a lot. The new building at the training campus will allow United to add six new flight simulations. The location of the additional six simulators is yet to be determined. There is space for 40 simulators.

The flight training center will be using the new simulators to train pilots on the Boeing Max and the Boeing 787-9, as well as the Boeing 787-9, according to the managing director of the flight training center.

The project is expected to be finished by the end of next year. The training center expansion project has been going on for a year.

As the industry recovers from the Covid pandemic, United is facing intense competition for pilots. Between now and the end of the decade, the airline is planning to hire about 10,000 pilots. About 2,000 pilots are expected to be added this year.

The first students at United's new flight school were taught last year. The goal is to train 5,000 pilots there by the year 2030.

Many pilots switched to new aircraft or waited for slots to be available to complete their training as a result of fleet changes during the Pandemic.

American Airlines decided to keep a pilot training center in Charlotte, North Carolina open last year. Many of United's pilots were trained early in the Pandemic, thanks to an agreement with its pilots union.