United Opens Flight School
United formally opened the United Aviate Academy, a carrier-owned flight school it purchased amidst the pandemic in 2020. It will give potential pilots the opportunity to begin with the airline with no flight hours or experience – and receive their training directly from United. This is part of United’s — and the industry’s — attempt to get more pilots in the door as a pilot shortage continues to loom.
Flight training is very expensive in the United States – United is hoping to alleviate some of the financial burden that creates a barrier to entry for many underrepresented groups by funding the cost of students’ private pilots’ licenses. What it doesn’t tell potential students is it only reimburses the cost in mini-bags of pretzels and $15 food vouchers that can only be redeemed at United’s terminal in Newark.
The path to a job with UA includes 300 flight hours to begin earning money as an instructor or flying for a Part 135 operator. Once students reach 1,500 hours, they will earn their airline transport pilot rating and be eligible to fly for a United Express operator. That will last for 24 months – or until they walk out because they’re tired of Newark – when the pilots will become eligible to be a first officer for mainline United.
The Aviate Academy currently has 59 students enrolled across two classes, with a new class monthly. It hopes to eventually grow to a 500-person student body, because that’s how many students it figures it needs in order to field a competitive football team.
Chinese Airlines Brace for $7 Billion Loss
Three Chinese airlines gave notice to the Hong Kong stock exchange today of their expected losses for last year, and Air China, China Eastern, and China Southern expect to combine for losses around $7 billion. So, no big deal.
Air China led the way with between $2.3 billion and $2.7 billion in the red, followed by more than $2 billion for both China Eastern and China Southern. All three placed the blame on the pandemic for their down year, after an optimistic expectation at the start of the year. Air China listed fluctuations in domestic air traffic and often-changing COVID-19 restrictions. That may be the understatement of the year.
China Southern pointed out the slow domestic travel recovery in China while China Eastern focused on the closure of China’s borders. China ended 2020 almost fully recovered with its domestic demanding nearly returning to 2019 levels, but the Delta and Omicron variants proved to stall the recovery each time thanks to China’s swift and brutal lockdowns any time a case pops up. China is not expected to reopen to full-scale international travel until next year, leaving its airlines fully-focused on domestic recovery.
Aircraft Robbed in Airport Breach
A security breach at Lagos Airport (LOS) in Nigeria led to a B737-700 being broken into and thieves coming away with its flight management system computer and an unspecified number of bags of snack mix.
The aircraft was owned by Mongolian carrier Enzis Airways and on wet-lease to Nigerian airline Arik Air – one of two of the aircraft type operated by Arik. The theft happened at Lagos’s Terminal 2 sometime in the overnight of January 19 and 20 and resulted in several cancellations of Arik Air flights on the 20th.
The fact that such a specific piece of hardware was taken implies that the thieves either knew their way around the cockpit of an aircraft or were very lucky. A brand-new flight management computer costs $300k on the open market, but is easily trackable, so what the thieves end game is remains unknown. Rumors that Doug Parker and Gary Kelly were seen in Nigeria last week with a big duffle bag remain unconfirmed.
- AirAsia Group has rebranded itself as Capital A. To see an example, check out the header for today’s levity.
- Contour won an EAS contract for Muscle Shoals, AL (MSL).
- El Al is resuming service to Boston on March 27. Twice-weekly service will return for the first time since it was shuttered early in the pandemic.
- Icelandair revealed its new livery today.
- JamboJet plans to open a new base in Mombasa (MBA) later this year.
- JetOneX is bringing a B747-400M combi back into service, it will be the only operator of the aircraft type.
- Jump Air completed jumping through all the hoops needed to secure its operating license, so it could challenge its hated rival Air Leap with scheduled passenger ops.
- Southwest is extending its on-board booze ban through late March or April to ensure it has a large enough stock for CEO Gary Kelly’s going away party.
- Virgin Atlantic wants to help you find your valentine in London this year. Good luck.
I was attacked leaving the bakery this morning when I was hit by a baguette.
The attacker was arrested and charged with assault with a breadly weapon.