Talent acquisition and succession planning

In 2023, we welcomed approximately 17,000 new employees worldwide through various channels including our career site, direct passive candidate sourcing, professional association partnerships, employee referrals, universities and other external sources.

Career growth

Our human resources programs are designed to facilitate internal talent mobility. We encourage employees to identify the paths that can build the skills, experience, knowledge and competencies needed for career advancement. In 2023, about 75% of our senior leader positions were filled internally and 513 frontline employees were promoted into management roles, consistent with last year and almost three times as many as years prior.

Broadening our talent pipeline

We’re driven by our desire to pave new paths in the aviation and travel industries that will make a positive lasting impact. We lead from the front, showing up and banding together to propel people, communities and the planet forward.

We are broadening access to high-paying aviation careers and fostering transformative opportunities in all communities through programs like United Pathways, which consists of Aviate, Calibrate and Innovate. These programs make pilot, technician and digital technology careers more accessible by raising awareness, focusing on skills-first hiring and removing financial barriers. We then develop these individuals through rigorous, world-class training and skills assessment programs to ensure that each employee meets the highest quality, safety and professional standards.

Maintaining our commitment to increased transparency, we are sharing our U.S. workforce demographic data for the third year in a row.

Rewards and benefits professional and social

We prioritize the well-being of our employees and seek to acquire and develop the best talent in the sector by offering competitive compensation packages, inclusive of retirement, health and wellness benefits. We believe in aligning colleague incentives with the interest of our business and our stockholders; performance-based compensation aligns with company goals, promoting long-term shareholder value.

Benefits at United

We know our airline is only as good as the team behind it. We offer a competitive benefits package that will keep our colleagues happy, healthy and well-travelled.

Financial

Our 401(k) plan includes a company match to provide financial security. Additionally, we provide both short-term and long-term incentive opportunities.

Health

We offer a variety of medical plans and options, including vision, dental, long-term disability and life insurance.

Social

We give back and serve communities through volunteer impact grants for charities, fundraising opportunities and volunteer participation with local food banks, parades, athletic events and more. Beyond volunteering, we have social, athletic and activity clubs around the world.

Professional

We continuously encourage professional development based on colleagues’ interests and skills. Our Business Resource Groups (BRGs) build communities of inclusion and allyship focusing on multicultural backgrounds, veterans, women in the workforce, parents and caregivers, the LGBTQ+ community, cross-generational collaboration and persons with disabilities. The groups support our growing team and culture while delivering key business outcomes.

We have a longstanding commitment to pay equity, and once again in 2023 we achieved near-perfect pay equity for employees of all genders and races performing comparable work across our U.S. management roles. We continue our commitment to annual reviews to maintain pay equity. In 2023, to minimize the inequities in health and wellness outcomes resulting from social determinants, we took actions such as implementing financial counselling, launching a new wellness platform, improved program awareness and access, launching virtual primary care, expanding women’s and maternal health medical plan offerings and launching a national diabetes management and reversal program.