JetBlue is turning supermarket clerks and baggage handlers into pilots

What do a supermarket clerk, an airline baggage handler and a heavy-equipment operator have in common? They’re among the first participants in JetBlue’s new program to turn people with little or no flight experience into pilots. The initial six recruits begin the second phase of training Monday, after three weeks studying meteorology, aerodynamics, aircraft systems and the like. They’ll now spend about seven months in Arizona to begin flight training at CAE Oxford Aviation Academy. If successful -- and if they can handle the $125,000 price tag -- they should become first officers at JetBlue Airways Corp. in 2020. US carriers are seeking new ways to recruit as the industry faces a projected shortage of 15,000 aviators by 2026, according to the University of North Dakota. JetBlue’s Gateway Select program is the first of its kind in the US, although similar efforts have been used in Europe and Asia. It is one of seven recruitment programs at the New York-based airline. “I’ve been a pilot coming up on 30 years now, and I’m literally blown away by the enthusiasm and raw aptitude these six individuals have,” said David Freiwald, a JetBlue flight instructor. Of the recruits, one had 100 hours of flight time as a private pilot, another had about 35 hours and the rest had never flown a plane. The airline declined to make any students available for interviews. JetBlue’s pilots union doesn’t support the program. “We don’t see a need for it,” said Patrick Walsh, chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association group at the carrier. “There are thousands of qualified pilots applying with JetBlue currently.” He declined to comment on the quality of the training regimen.<br/>