NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITYTRANSPORTATION CENTER

United Airlines Aviate: Reinventing the Pilot Pipeline

Captain Curtis Brunjes
Managing Director. Pilot Strategy
United Airlines

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Abstract:

Airlines in the United States are adjusting to dramatic changes in the pilot supply situation.  Demographics that are causing a surge in retirements are occurring simultaneously with global airline industry growth driving unprecedently pilot demand in an environment that, until recently, hasn’t made the pilot career a foremost consideration for young people.  The free market is seeing a shift from traditional hiring and development of new paradigms. 

Aviate, https://unitedaviate.com/, is United’s response to the market need for pilots.  It has been designed to ensure both high quality pilot candidates in the pilot pipeline as well as to satiate volume demand at the United Express regional partners.  Prospective airline pilots can join the program at a point very early in their development and follow a well-defined path, with mentoring along the way, until they transition to the flight deck at United.

In this session, Captain Curtis Brunjes will describe the industry competitive labor situation and how the challenge of pilot supply has led to an innovative solution at United.  As is often the case, a creative solution to a persistent business challenge can lead to differentiation and, potentially, long-term competitive advantage.

 

Speaker Bio:

Captain Curtis Brunjes is a 33-year United Airlines pilot and currently flies the 787 when he is not at United headquarters in Chicago working as the Managing Director of Pilot Strategy.  In this role, he, and a broad team from United, have developed Aviate, the industry’s leading pilot development pipeline which will become the primary channel through which pilots are sourced at United.  He leads the team that has developed theAviate program as well as the acquisition of a flight training academy, the only to be owned and operated by a major US airline.

Curt has over 25,000 hours of flight time and is rated on the 727, 747, 757/767, 777, 787 and A319/320 aircraft.  He is a former US Air Force pilot and is currently a FAA designated pilot examiner. He has been a management consultant specializing in airline projects for Oliver Wyman and has owned and run numerous aviation businesses.

Curt has a Bachelor’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering from Princeton and is a 1993 graduate of the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a former President of the Transportation Club.  He splits his time between Chicago and the Phoenix area where he lives on an airpark with his personal RV-8 aircraft in the hangar.

The Pilot of the Future

Geoff Murray
Oliver Wyman

Impact of Non-Hub Cities to United's Success

Mandeep Grewal
United Airlines

The Role of the Media in Covering Aviation

Brian Sumers
Transport Editor, Americas, Aviation Week
Micah Maidenberg
Reporter, Crain’s Chicago Business
Steve Nolan
Vice President, Communications and Public Relations, GoGo Air

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Simulating the Dynamic Effects of Horizontal Mergers: U.S. Airlines

Dr. John Lazarev
Assistant Professor Department of Economics, New York University; Visiting Scholar to Northwestern University Economics Department

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The Air Transport Industry:  Structure, Economics, Operations:  An Overview of the Aviation Industry and its Key Players

Peter L. Smith
Former Project Director, Customer Value of Aviation Services, Marketing & Business Strategy, Boeing Commercial Airplanes

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Airline Hubs: Blessing, Bane...or Both?

George W. Hamlin
President, Hamlin Transportation Consulting

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The Flight Plan: Vision, Leadership and Culture

Howard Putnam
Former President & CEO, Southwest Airlines; Former CEO, Braniff Airlines; Former Group Vice President- Marketing, United Airlines

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The O'Hare Modernization and Chicago Airspace Project

Christina Drouet
Manager, Chicago Area Modernization Program Office, Federal Aviation Administration

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The Science of Sleep: Aviation Rest and Fatigue Regulations for Pilots

Noam Alon
Director Operations Control Center, United Airlines, Inc.
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Kathryn Reid
Research Associate Professor, Neurology, Feinberg School of Medicine; Associate Director, Circadian Rhythms and Sleep Research Program
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Domestic Airline Pilot Needs for the Next 10 to 20 Years

Brant Harrison
First Officer, Skywest Airlines; Owner, Audries Aircraft Analysis, LLC

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U.S. Airlines Mergers: The Modern Era

George Hamlin
President, Hamlin Transportation Consulting

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Flight Delays, Capacity Investment and Welfare under Air Transport Supply-Demand Equilibrium

Bo Zou
Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Materials Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC)

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Right-Sizing: The Right Move in the Airline Business

George W. Hamlin
President, Hamlin Transportation Consulting

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Airline Capacity Discipline: Where and to what Extent?

Aaron J. Gellman
Professor of Transportation, Northwestern University Transportation Center and Kellogg School of Management

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Bringing the Boeing 787 into Operational & Commercial Service in LATAM Airlines

Justin D. Siegel
Vice President, Fleet Projects - LATAM Airlines Group, S.A.

Presented jointly by the Northwestern University Transportation Center, Icarus Society, Kellogg Transportation Club and LAHIMA

Bringing a new aircraft into an airlines operation is a challenge that requires time, detailed planning and committed working teams. We summarize the key aspects considered in the 2 and half year preparation phase carried out by the LATAM Airlines Group to introduce the new Boeing 787. This involves not only ensuring the aircraft complies with the technical specs and passenger cabin accommodations required, but also that the entire operational support organization is ready and prepared to begin commercial flights. We provide the key innovations that the 787 introduces to commercial aviation and review the main challenges and key learning of introducing this fleet. We also address how project management technics were a key factor in ensuring a smooth entry into service as the fourth operator in the world and first in the Americas.

In addition we provide an overview of the LATAM Airlines Group and its position in the airline market today, together with the work and attractive career opportunities that this company provides. Latin America is one of today’s highest growing regions in the world, and air travel’s growth is a result of this. LATAM Airlines Group was just formed from recent a merger between two of the leading carriers in Chile and Brazil, LAN and TAM. Together, this group represents the airline with the highest market cap value in the world.

About Justin Siegel

Justin Siegel joined Lan Airlines in 2005 as Warranty and Contracts Manager, rising to the position of Director, Fleet Projects in 2011. He is currently VP of Fleet Projects for LATAM Airlines Group, the airline created by the merger of LAN Airlines and TAM S.A. Justin holds a BS in Civil Engineering and MS degree in Industrial Engineering from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

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Learn more about the LATAM Dreamliner Fleet

Economics of Airline Industry Consolidation

Hubert Horan, Aviation Expert and Independent Airline Consultant

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Transportation Deregulation and Safety: A Retrospective and Reflection after 25 Years

In the mid 1980s there was public concern that the economic deregulation of transportation in the late 1970s had led to a degradation of safety. In 1987, Northwestern University’s Transportation Center held a landmark conference on the subject. Now, 25 years later it is time to reflect on:

• were the concerns of the mid 1980s justified?
• what public policy changes arose from the debate, and were these changes justified or effective?
• were there other issues that did not become apparent until much later?
• to what extent are contemporary safety issues still tied up with the deregulation debate?
• what was the effect of economic deregulation in the long-run safety trends?

Join four speakers who were part of the 1987 conference:

• Thomas M. Corsi (University of Maryland)
  • Presentation
• Paul Jovanis (Pennsylvania State University)
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• Clinton V. Oster. Jr. (Indiana University)
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• Ian Savage (Northwestern University)
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Biographies of speakers

As background information, view the:
1987 Conference Program
1987 Conference Summary and Recommendations

This symposium was jointly organized and sponsored with the Northwestern University Transportation Center Seminar Series, Sandhouse Gang, and Icarus Society, and the Chicago Chapter of the Transportation Research Forum.

Designing NextGen Advanced Runway Operations to Exploit the Uncertainty of Meteorological Conditions

A joint Icarus Society Meeting and Transportation Center Seminar

Laurence Audenaerd, Senior Engineer, Center for Advanced Aviation System Development, The MITRE Corporation; Northwestern CEE PhD

Changing the Face of Logistics

Joint Icarus Society, Sandhouse Rail Group Meeting, and Transportation Center Seminar

Mike Mullen has literally changed the face of logistics. As a founder and Chief Executive Office of Center Point, Mike took his knowledge of real estate and the time-honored premise of location-location-location to create a new concept, the logistics campus.

The Port of Joliet is the fifth largest container port in the world, and it is not even close to an ocean. O’Hare has extensive cargo facilities on site. There are logistic campuses, warehouses and distribution centers located across the United States, all built and in many cases owned by Center Point.

Not everyone realizes the real value of real estate in effective transportation. Mike’s presentation will emphasize the value of real estate and modal integration in creating cost effective logistics. A logistic campus brings together the elements of multi-modal transportation, warehousing, distribution and customer service. The efficiency of this integration of functions lowers overall logistics costs, a major factor in bring product to the customer. Logistics campuses are the next generation of physical facilities moving freight to the ultimate customer.

About Michael M. Mullen

Michael Mullen is the Vice Chairman of CenterPoint Properties, having stepped down as CEO in October 2011. Mullen was a co-founder of the company in 1993 and has served as past President and Trustee, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President Marketing and Acquisitions and Chief Investment and Development Officer of the Company. He was named CEO of CenterPoint Properties in January 2005. He is a past Chairman of the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks. Mike’s achievements include such Chicago landmarks as the O'Hare Express airport development and the nation's largest inland port comprised of the Elwood and Joliet CenterPoint Intermodal Centers (formerly the Joliet Arsenal).

About CenterPoint Properties

CenterPoint Properties is the largest owner, manager and developer of industrial real estate and related rail, road and port infrastructure in metropolitan Chicago. With affiliates, the company owns, leases and manages approximately 33 million square feet of customers and has an additional 7,000 acres of property for future development. The company adds value to its customers through forward-thinking solutions aimed at enhancing supply chain and operating efficiencies. CenterPoint seeks long term relationships with customers, its business partners, and the communities where it invests. The Company recently won the Developer of the Year from the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks and also received the Intermodal Achievement Award from IANA (Intermodal Association of North America), which recognizes outstanding contributions towards the advancement of the intermodal freight transportation industry.

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A Trade-Space Analysis of Surface Alternatives for Short-Haul Passenger Air Travel

Joint Icarus Society Meeting and Transportation Center Seminar

Laurence Audenaerd, Senior Engineer, Center for Advanced Aviation System Development, The MITRE Corporation; Northwestern CEE PhD

Aviation Symposium: The Future for Aviation

The Transportation Center organized a special Aviation Symposium focusing on important aviation industry topics -- technical, operational, and managerial.

The symposium was organized in honor of Dr. Aaron Gellman, Professor of Transportation at Northwestern University and former Director of the Transportation Center, who celebrated his eightieth birthday in 2010. The symposium's purpose was to honor and recognize Dr. Gellman’s significant contributions to the Transportation Center and the transportation industry during his long and distinguished career. Recognizing that Dr. Gellman is perhaps best known for his aviation expertise and focus, NUTC found it appropriate to organize this symposium focusing on the industry he loves.

The symposium agenda addressed a number of issues including:

• the air traffic management system,
• new technologies in airframe and engine development,
• the use of system data for monitoring the health of the aircraft,
• the role and future of the growing air freight market and its contribution to the bottom line,
• airline alliances
• the airport of the future

Symposium speakers included:

• Rosemarie S. Andolino, Commissioner, Chicago Department of Aviation
• Carol Asmus, Vice President – International Market Development, FedEx Services
• Perry Cantarutti, Senior Vice President, Europe, Middle East, & Africa, Delta Airlines, Inc.
• Robert Gordon, Professor of Economics, Northwestern University
• John B. Maggiore, Program Manager, Airplane Health Management, The Boeing Company
• Hani Mahmassani, Director, Transportation Center, and William A. Patterson Distinguished Professor of Transportation, Northwestern University
• Neil Planzer, Vice President – Air Traffic Management, Boeing, Inc.
• Christopher Seher, Director of Aviation Security & Safety, Applied Research Associates, Inc.
• Hans Weber, President, TECOP International, Inc.

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Behind the Scenes in Airlines Operations: From Airport Delays to Volcanic Ash

William S. Leber, Jr., Senior Manager of Business Development, Collaborative Air Traffic Management Lockheed Martin Aviation Solutions - Civil

Recent Trends in Airline Optimization

Seminar at the University of Illinois at Chicago

Cynthia Barnhart
Associate Dean, School of Engineering
Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Co-Director, Operations Research Center, MIT

Mergers alone aren't enough to save U.S. airline industry

Matt Anderson