Captain Monica Frain is a second-generation United pilot. She knew by the age of four that she wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps.
He spent more than three decades as a pilot for United and took her flying often. She still remembers the first time her dad turned their plane upside down, and excitedly running to a phone once they landed so she could tell her mother all about it.
She did not know how she would land her dream job with the major airliner, though. She ended up taking a roundabout way to her destination of becoming a United pilot, Frain told a room full of aviation students at Metropolitan State University of Denver on Friday.
Frain worked as a flight instructor for three regional airlines before becoming a United pilot through a merger nearly 20 years ago.
“Wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could tell you exactly how to get to your destination,” she said.
A new partnership between United Airlines and MSU Denver promises to provide students with just that — a clear path to becoming a United pilot. Former and current MSU Denver students who have their private license and meet other requirements can now take part in United’s pilot career-development program called Aviate. They apply, interview and receive a conditional job offer.
Then they never have to interview with United again, and transition into first officer status upon successful completion of the program. The program is unique because it offers a “a secure, direct path to come and fly with all of us,” Frain said.
The partnership aims to address a pilot shortage, as some estimates are showing the industry could lose some 60,000 pilots by the end of the decade. It also supports a massive hiring push from United. The airline is looking to hire 10,000 pilots by 2030.
The partnership comes on the heels of multiple major announcements regarding United’s expansion in Denver.
United announced this month that it is buying 113 acres of land near Denver International Airport for $33 million in order to expand its Flight Training Center, a venture that is expected to add 240 new jobs. The two-parcel site is undeveloped agricultural land near 17671 E. 64th Avenue.
“Our growth means great things for our customers, our employees and the communities we serve, including Denver, and this property gives us a lot of options,” United spokesman Russ Carlton said in a statement. “For example, we’ve already begun work on plans to use part of this land as the site for the expansion of our world-class Denver pilot training facility and we’ll evaluate additional opportunities in the future as our United Next plan unfolds.”
The airline announced last year that it was investing more than $100 million to expand the Denver-based training center with a four-story building on United’s 23-acre campus. And in May, United announced it was adding 35 flights, six new routes, a dozen more gates and three clubs at DIA.
Although the airline is headquartered in Chicago, the city of Denver is critical to its operation, said Efry Ayala-Johnson, the senior manager of Learning Strategy for United Airlines.
MSU Denver is the only four-year university in Colorado partnering with the Aviate program. Ayala-Johnson said the airline is proud that MSU Denver is also the first Hispanic-Serving Institution to join the Aviate roster.
The company has a history of innovation, he said, being the first to hire flight attendants when women were still being told to work in the home, and choosing to pursue growth during the pandemic when other airlines were shrinking.
Becoming a pilot is far from the only career path with United, he said, outlining career programs for technicians, engineers, and in digital technology.
“In a company of almost 96,000 people, you can do almost anything,” he said.
Captains who spoke at the event aimed to dazzle students with stats about the airline’s size and growth.
United is Denver’s largest airline and claims to be its largest private employer, boasting 10,000 local employees, 500 daily flights, 12 international destinations and 159 domestic flights. Another 700 airplanes are on order, including 207 narrow-body planes and a just-announced order of 200 wide-body planes. That means they will have more wide-body planes than their two largest competitors combined, Frain said, also Aviate’s senior manager of sourcing and engagement.
The airline employs about 16,000 pilots now, but plans to reach nearly 28,000 by the end of the decade. Some of those hires will replace retiring pilots while others are needed to fly new planes and support the growing airline, representatives told the crowd of students.
Despite Friday being the program’s formal debut, students have already started signing up. One of the first to be accepted is senior Morgan Katnik, who’s now four months into the program.
“I’ve been kind of in love with aviation my whole life,” he said.
Katnik started learning how to fly in 2016 and is in the phase of Aviate’s program where he is accruing flight experience on his way to becoming a commercial pilot. Denverites may have already seen him flying over town.
He enjoys aerobatics and flying banner-tow planes, including some passes sailing banners over Rockies games. This month he’ll become a flight instructor, which helps him rack up more flight experience for the Aviate program.
Applying and interviewing was simple and straightforward, Katnik said. Given pilot shortages, he’s surprised airlines haven’t been more aggressive in pursing programs like the MSU Denver partnership.
“It really helps the young pilot who doesn’t really know how to get to the airline,” he said.
