WMU Partners With United For New Pilot Career Program

Dave BensonPublished: February 6, 2020

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 17: Actors Joonas Suotamo, Billy Dee Williams, Richard E. Grant, Kelly Marie Tran, Naomi Ackie, Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Daniels, Keri Russell, Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Director/writer/producer J.J. Abrams, Producer and President of Lucasfilm Kathleen Kennedy, Producer Michelle Rejwan, Editor Maryann Brandon, Editor Stefan Grube, Writer Chris Terrio, Casting Director Nina Gold and Production designer Rick Carter with R2-D2, BB-8, D-O and Sith Troopers from "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" pose in front of United Airlines' Star Wars-themed aircraft, which was created to celebrate the film—the highly anticipated conclusion of the Skywalker saga. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens in U.S. theaters on December 20. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Disney)

Western Michigan University's School of Aviation has announced another major partnership with a major airline. Western is partnering with United Airlines as part of "the company's new pilot career development initiative called Aviate, WMU announced in a press release. The school says "the partnership will put WMU College of Aviation students accepted into this new program on a fast track to a career at the airline. With the aim of hiring more than 10,000 pilots in the next decade, United is positioning itself to hire the best and brightest through the progression of Aviate."

"As the airline industry continues to address the shortage of highly qualified aviation professionals, we are very proud United chose Western Michigan University to help the company continue to bring the highest qualified candidates into their pilot pipeline. We have consistently striven at WMU to produce the industry's best trained and most sought-after graduates. This partnership helps to validate how the aviation industry views the quality of our program and the type of professionals we are producing." - Capt. Dave Powell, dean of the College of Aviation in a WMU release.

This is not the first partnership with a major airline. In 2018, the School of Aviation partnered with Delta Airlines for a similar program.

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