JetBlue’s New Pilot Training Program Requires Zero Flying Experience
Joe Cortez September 08, 2017
Gateway Select program transitions everyday people into airline pilots.
JetBlue wants to give those who have always dreamed of blue skies the opportunity to join their ranks starting in 2018. The JetBlue Gateway Select program is once again open for applications, accepting people from all walks of life for commercial pilot training. The application period ends on September 30, 2017.
According to Bloomberg, the competitive program received over 1,500 applications when it first opened in 2016. In this round, only 24 candidates will be identified through an application, $160 assessment and interviews with JetBlue staff. Training is scheduled to begin in January and May 2018.
Through the four-year program, future pilots learn core academics and flying skills, earning their private pilot’s license before going into commercial jet training. At the end of the program and 1,500 flight-hours, pilots are guaranteed a job at JetBlue, where they will get orientation and training on the Embraer E-190 regional jet.
The Gateway Select program helps to address the aviation industry’s potential pilot shortage. Aviation analysts predict airlines could need up to 18,000 new pilots in the next five years. Although this marks only the second class of new aviators for JetBlue, executives expect the employment program to bring a steady stream of qualified candidates.
“We have every intent to continue with this program,” Warren Christie, senior vice president of safety at JetBlue, told Bloomberg. “It opens up aviation careers to individuals that otherwise might never have had the opportunity.”
Although no experience is required for the program, potential cadets must show the ability to pay for the $125,000 training regimen. While financing is available, pilots unions claim that the high cost new pilots must front in all aviation training programs could directly lead to the projected pilot demand.
[Photo: Shutterstock]
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@twb3 With the exception of former military pilots, virtually ALL airline pilots are "pay-to-fly" pilots. In other words, if you have flown in the last year, you have almost certainly been flown by a "pay-to-fly" pilot.
Hmmm,.....some guy was slinging hash in McDonalds a year or two ago and now he's flying a jet ? No thanks.
Not keen on riding on carriers that use pay-to-fly pilots. The ability to stump up $125,000 in training costs in no indication of aviation skill!