Delta Increasing Cockpit Diversity
 

Delta Increasing Cockpit Diversity
By Training Pilots for Free

By MATTHEW VALIA
©2001 DiversityInc.com
Jan. 9, 2001



In an effort to boost the number of women and
minority pilots in its cockpits, Delta Airlines yesterday
announced a partnership with the Western Michigan
University?s (WMU) College of Aviation to begin training
up to 40 new multicultural pilots.

Delta will provide $1.65 million over four years. In
return, WMU will begin training a minimum of 24 pilots,
starting with a group of eight graduate students this
May.

WMU?s curriculum is a European-style flight-training
program that takes students with no previous flight
experience though a complete training regimen,
preparing them to be first officers at commercial
airlines.

Upon completion of the 14-month program, the pilots
will be given priority employment consideration by Delta
Connection carriers Comair and Atlantic Southeast
Airlines.

With this program Delta hopes to have success
attracting new multicultural customers, said Delta
spokesperson Cindy Kurczewski.

"This is an example of what airlines can do to introduce
new ways to expand their pilot pool," she said.

According to Delta, most commercial airline pilots
receive their aviation training through military service.
But as the number of military pilots decrease, airlines
are beginning to look at new ways to attract highly
trained commercial pilots.

"The investment in quality pilot education will ensure
that we are able to continue to build a superior Delta
team and establish Delta as a leader in hiring women
and minority pilots for years to come," said Mac
Armstrong, Delta?s executive vice president of
operations.

The announcement of the diversity program comes
seven months after a team of lawyers filed a
discrimination complaint against Delta Airlines. In June,
five African-American women said they witnessed
systematic discrimination in promotions, performance
evaluations and compensation, according to their
lawyer Byron Perkins.

Belinda Stubblefield, an African American, was
appointed vice president of diversity in August as a
response to the lawsuits. According to
Kurczewski,Stubblefield played a role in the
development of the pilot-training program.