JetBlue Shakes Up Pilot Hiring by Training Them From Scratch
- Airline seeks to groom recruits who lack flight experience
- Proposal to break with historical practice awaits FAA review
JetBlue Airways Corp. planes sit on tarmac.
Photographer: Michael Nagle/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
JetBlue Airways Corp., breaking with historical practices at U.S. airlines, plans to recruit potential pilots with no flight experience and provide its own training under a proposal awaiting approval from federal regulators.
The program would be the first of its kind in the U.S. and would be similar to those used by some European and Asian carriers. Candidates still would have to meet U.S. requirements, including 1,500 hours of flight experience, to be certified as commercial airline pilots, JetBlue said.