Did you know that becoming a pilot seems out of reach for many people? According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 5.6% of pilots are women, and 6% are people of color. Unbelievably, earning a commercial pilot’s license in the U.S. can cost about $100,000. Becoming an Airline Transport Pilot requires 1,500 hours of flight time, making these requirements a commitment hard to fulfill.

Taking action, closing the gap, and offering people educational alternatives, United Airlines officially opened a flight academy —and 80% of students identified as women or people of color.

As the only major U.S. airline to own a flight training school, United officially opened the doors of United Aviate Academy in a historic inaugural class of future pilots. The academy is part of the airline’s goal to hire at least 10,000 new pilots by 2030, been 5,000 United alums.

According to the educational institution, their unprecedented training program will dramatically expand access to a lucrative and rewarding career in aviation while upholding United’s world-class safety standards. United currently has about 12,000 pilots. Captains of United’s Boeing 787s and 777s can earn more than $350,000 per year. In addition, United pilots receive one of the highest 401(k) matches in the nation – 16% of base pay.

HOLA USA! had the opportunity to visit the academy in Goodyear, Arizona, and meet with United Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby, United Chief Pilot Mary Ann Schaffer, plus United Aviate Academy students and future pilots Jimena Pérez Arroyo and Natalie Villalpando.

According to Kirby and Schaffer, the academy is an excellent opportunity to diversify the field and help break down some barriers the Latinx and Black communities face.

“One of the great things about UAA is that we can address the huge barriers to entry for women and people of color. This is really about finding great people with drive, commitment, and potential and giving them the opportunity,” Kirby told HOLA! USA. “It gives me an immense amount of pride to think that what we‘re doing makes a difference. I often say we will build the biggest and the best airline in the history of aviation. Still, also when I retire, I hope what people say about me is that I made a difference in our diversity and sustainability efforts.”

United Airlines’ CEO said that corporate America talks about diversity without action; however, what he is doing is real and will positively impact the communities. “This is real action. That’s going to make a difference not just to these people’s lives and their family’s lives. These are people that I believe will give back to their communities, and giving people economic opportunity is how we get to real equality in the country. It is about economic opportunity. And that’s what we’re doing here today,” he said.

United Chief Pilot Mary Ann Schaffer said that the program is a game-changer for the industry and that she is looking forward to the next generation of pilots. “This is an exciting day. I’m so pleased to be back here on campus to see the students that have already started, and I’m looking forward to the next class. I’ll come back and introduce the next lesson in February. This is a game-changer for the industry,” she said.

“This academy has proven already that if you break down barriers to entry, you will get a representative part of our country to want to come to fly airplanes,” Schaffer added. “We didn’t have this kind of opportunity at any time in our industry before. And now people can see it. They can apply for it. And they can succeed in an industry and in a career that I have loved for my over 30 years in the business. And I look forward to having more women and people of color. Join us on the flight decks.”

Scholarship opportunities

United Airlines works directly with organizations to educate prospects about the benefits of becoming a pilot and to find candidates for scholarship opportunities, including, Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals, Sisters of the Skies, The Latino Pilots Association, and The Professional Asian Pilots Association. In addition, United and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have renewed their 2021 commitment to fund nearly $2.4 million in scholarships for future aviators attending United Aviate Academy.

Conquering their dreams of becoming pilots, future captains Jimena Pérez Arroyo and Natalie Villalpando secured their spots in the program and began training thanks to a scholarship from The Latino Pilots Association — a nonprofit organization committed to empowering, supporting, and mentoring the underrepresented in the Latinx community.

In a conversation with HOLA! USA, Pérez Arroyo and Villalpando share what they think would be the program’s impact in their lives and other kids growing up seeing them as female pilots.

“I want children to know that despite whatever background you have, your gender. Whatever society around you tells you is supposed to be, your limits, or your role in life, at the end of the day, it’s up to you,” said Villalpando. “You do have this option available to you. It’s not blocked off just because you‘re not in the traditional mold. You can still do it, and when Jimena and I are walking across airports on our way to our flights, I want them to look at us and realize that it’s possible. It‘s not a dream. It’s not a fantasy. They’re doing it!”

As Latinas, Jimena and Natalie understand what it means to be immigrants or the daughters of immigrants living in the United States. As parents leave their countries and cultures behind in the search for a better future for themselves and their children, they often face the fear of not having enough funds for their education.

In addition, working-class immigrant parents expect their children to follow a traditional career that helps them become financially stable. “I immigrated here with my mom when I was 10 or 11 years old,” said Pérez Arroyo. “She definitely wanted me to go a safer route. I worked at a lawyer’s office and an immigration attorney’s office for two years. I was a paralegal. I had a decent job and a career path in that direction, but she always knew that aviation was my dream. It just did not seem as a possibility as a woman and as an immigrant because it because it‘s very specific —you have to have to meet certain criteria.”

According to Jimena, immigration had always been a sensitive topic for her. “I had been helping my community. I had been doing all that, but when this opportunity came up, I was just like, ‘yes, I want to help my community. Yes, I am Latina. But that‘s not a reason why that should hold me back from following my dreams.’ If this is what I want to do, and there’s a possibility for me, there is nothing to lose in applying, giving it a shot, and seeing where this can take me,” she told us.

For Natalie, becoming a pilot was a no-brainer thanks to her dad‘s influence. “My parents were incredibly supportive because my father is actually my inspiration for getting into aviation,” she revealed. “He is a United employee, and he’s a simulation engineer. Because of that, I‘ve been flying my whole life. But growing up, I didn’t really think that being a pilot was going to be a job option for me for the simple fact that I never saw any pilots that looked like me. I never saw any Latina pilots. I saw very few women. So why would I aim to be something that I don‘t even know is in my realm of possibility?”

The future pilot said that she thinks that was the same thought process for her parents. “Then when this opportunity came to my attention, that they are looking for women, that you can be a Latina and apply for this, and it‘s like,’ oh, I don’t have to be in that mold anymore. It is a new future. It is a new world.’”

“I want to show other women who might have grown up like me that this is something you can do. I want to be the example that I did not have growing up.”

As students of the United Aviate Academy, Jimena, Natalie, and the rest of their classmates enjoy a state-of-the-art 340,000 square-foot facility at Phoenix Goodyear Airport.

The campus includes world-class features such as easing a fleet of late-model Cirrus SR-20 series single-engine aircraft, which feature advanced safety characteristics, nearly 50,000 square feet of office space, multiple aircraft hangars, dormitory rooms for student housing with ample space for expansion, proximity to many auxiliary airfields in the Phoenix area, and favorable weather for year-round flight training.

For more information on United Aviate Academy, please visit unitedaviate.com/academy or @unitedaviate on Instagram.