Employee training and development
We are committed to providing our employees with the tools, resources and support they need to do great work and provide exceptional service to our customers and each other. This includes training our employees across the airline, at all levels and in all types of roles. In 2018, more than 93,000 employees participated in 4 million training activities, from safety, leadership, operational excellence and our core4 service framework. We want to make sure every employee has what they need to succeed at United and to take their career to new heights.
Diversity flies with us
At United, we define diversity as the range of characteristics that make individuals unique, including ability, age, ethnicity, gender identity, race, sexual orientation, religion and veteran’s status, among others. Inclusion is encouraging and welcoming individual authenticity and leveraging it to form a vibrant community and expand business opportunities.
Our mission is to create an inclusive work environment, where diversity in all its forms can thrive because all employees and customers are valued and treated with dignity and respect.
We are working towards being an airline where:
- Leaders embrace diversity and inclusion as a business advantage
- Employees are actively engaged because their voices are heard and their input is valued
- Customers value our inclusive approach to delivering flyer-friendly service
Awards and recognition
United Airlines® is fully committed to integrating diversity and inclusion into all areas of our business, and we are honored by the recognition and awards we have received from external organizations.
Diversity and inclusion awareness events
To affirm our commitment, we honor, recognize and celebrate events that link awareness with personal and professional development, employee engagement and understanding of the various dimensions of diversity. In addition to our annual calendar of events, we have participated in or sponsored more than 250 events in 2019.
Our annual calendar:
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Parades (January)
- Black History Month (February)
- Women’s History Month (March)
- Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (May)
- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month (June)
- National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 - October 15)
- Diversity Awareness Month (October)
- Disability Employment Awareness Month (October)
- Native American Heritage Month (November)
- Veterans Appreciation Month (November)
Business Resource Groups (BRGs)
To help advance our goals for diversity and inclusion, United supports employee-run BRGs. This is a vibrant and engaged group of more than 8,000 employees with chapters all over the globe. Each group is led by dedicated champions and volunteers that work to increase awareness and understanding of cultural issues while nurturing United’s diverse talent, enriching the airline’s organizational culture, volunteering in the local community and contributing to company performance. United employees have formed the following groups:
- EQUAL (LGBTA)
- UNITE (multi-cultural)
- United for Veterans (veterans)
- uIMPACT (women)
- GenTrend (generational/next gen)
- Bridge (People with Disabilities/Accessibility)
Across all groups, membership grew approximately 40 percent in 2019.
Recruitment
One of the goals of United’s Diversity and Inclusion strategy is to attract, develop and retain diverse talent to ensure that our employees represent the communities and markets we serve.
We are proud to have the most female pilots of any major airline. Over 7 percent of our pilots are women compared to the national average of 5 percent, and we’re working around the clock to increase that percentage and encourage women to explore careers in aviation.
We are proud to partner with organizations for talent acquisition initiatives, including Year Up, a non-profit that we began partnering with in 2018. Year Up is a national organization that empowers young adults to move into professional careers in a single year. The program offers a rigorous, six-month job training program before placing participants into work assignments with corporate partners. We were awarded the Corporate Partner Award at the 2018 graduation ceremony, an award bestowed upon corporate partners who have embodied the “high five” of support — hiring alumni from the program, hosting interns, supporting the program philanthropically, volunteering time and participating in the mentorship program. United’s commitment to a successful partnership with Year Up is helping close the opportunity divide for young adults in the Chicagoland area.
Leadership Development partnerships
In 2018, we engaged various organizations to promote the development of our leaders and employees.
We partnered with the Illinois Diversity Council (ILDC), whose mission is to foster a learning environment for organizations to grow and leverage their knowledge of diversity. Through a variety of events and programs, the ILDC serves as the premier resource for diversity best practices and leadership development in the state of Illinois. We were proud to invite 50 United employees to attend the 2018 Illinois Women’s Conference, which offered women a venue to learn from diverse, insightful speakers and panelists.
We also partnered with the Hispanic IT Executive Council (HITEC), a premier global executive leadership organization and non-profit that helps support Hispanic employees in technology of senior business. The organization focuses on building stronger technology and executive leaders, leadership teams, corporations and role models in a rapidly changing and technology-centric world.