Dignitaries including Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, Deputy Secretary Julie Su, Teamsters President Sean O'Brien, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner meet with workers at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport on Tuesday for the launch of Calibrate, a training program for aircraft maintenance technicians.Becoming an aircraft maintenance technician wasn't easy for Yolanda Gong.
Gong, who joined United Airlines after earning her license, is now a mentor in Calibrate, the airline's training program for future aircraft maintenance technicians. It pays trainees as they work toward their licenses, in a 36-month-long course that begins with classes before moving on to supervised work alongside licensed technicians. United also covers the cost of the classes, which can total $50,000 at a technical college, the airline says.
The program is still small. Sixteen men and women were part of its initial cohort, which started at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport in November. Several other groups of future techs are now training, in Houston and San Francisco, with more airports in the future. The Chicago-based airline has high hopes for the program — and a need for more skilled workers. Overall, United plans to hire 7,000 more maintenance technicians by 2026, and 1,000 will be trained through Calibrate.
"This program proves that when business and labor work together, everyone succeeds," he said, adding that you don't often see a massive company, the federal government and the Teamsters hobnobbing, as they were Tuesday.
Until the next recession. Then they're all out the door.