CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A new program aims to get people in the cockpit who you don’t typically see there.
United Airlines is launching a program to encourage women and people of color to become pilots.
The new United Aviate Academy includes scholarship money and special loans – all designed to break down the barriers that have long prevented the airline industry from becoming more diversified.
"The majority of pilots I fly with are not African American, and they're not female," Gabrielle Harding, who has been flying for United Airlines for 14 years, said. "There are very few of us."
She’s used to the stares she gets from passengers.
"Especially when I’m walking through terminals, normally I turn heads, people are trying to figure out if I’m a pilot or a flight attendant," Garding said.
Even her colleagues are often taken aback when she shows up to work.
"It's like being the purple unicorn because people are always shocked – including people I work with, a lot of times people I fly with, the captain -- they have never encountered flying with a female, definitely flying with an African American female," Garding recalled.
Only 7% of certified pilots are women, according to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, and United said only 19% of its pilots are people of color.
United Airlines is now working to change that with Aviate Academy. The company has pledged $1.2 million, and JPMorgan Chase has pledged another $1.2 million, to offer scholarships to women and African Americans who make it into the airline's flight school.
"The main barrier is the financial one," Garding said. "It costs $100,000 to go from zero hours to getting everything you need to become a commercial airline pilot."
The plan is to enroll 100 students in its first year with the hope of adding 5,000 new pilots by 2030.
"I wish this program would have existed around 20 years ago when I started training because there is a roadmap in order to become a commercial airline pilot, and unless you have an 'in,' it's hard for people - especially women and people of color - who are in areas that may not have as much access," Garding said.
The airline said it has committed to making sure at least half the students in this new Aviate Academy will be women or people of color. It's working with historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and other organizations to help with the recruiting process.