Tag: United Airlines

GOP congressmen are upset that airlines are training pilots who aren’t white men

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Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) accused United Airlines of engaging in ‘progressive fascism.’

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) unleashed a racist and sexist attack on United Airlines on Thursday, demanding to know which pilots receive training as part of the company’s new effort to diversify its workforce.

“Airlines should advertise the exact flights flown by pilots who were chosen as part of their new diversity programs rather than the outdated programs based solely on skill, experience, and qualifications,” Massie tweeted.

Massie was apparently upset about an announcement by United on Tuesday of its plans to launch a pilot training academy: “Our flight deck should reflect the diverse group of people on board our planes every day. That’s why we plan for 50% of the 5,000 pilots we train in the next decade to be women or people of color.” Continue reading.

The airline bailout loophole: Three companies received $338 million in relief money for workers — and laid workers off anyway

AlterNet logoThree airline industry companies slated to receive $338 million in public money designed to preserve jobs in the hard-hit industry have laid off thousands of workers anyway, according to Treasury disclosure filings and public layoff data.

The largest company, Gate Gourmet, is a global preparer of airline meals and part of a Swiss conglomerate owned by the private equity firm of wealthy Malaysian businessman Richard Ong. Gate Gourmet is scheduled to get $171 million from the federal program to bail out the airline industry even after it reported laying off thousands of workers at airports in half a dozen states, including California, Georgia, New York and Illinois, in recent months, according to public filings. The exact number of workers who lost their jobs is not clear.

“These grants are meant to save jobs and only to save jobs,” said Rep. Katie Porter, D-CA, who has supported the aid program for aviation workers. Every payment Treasury makes “despite clear indications that the recipient company is firing workers or cutting hours is an abuse of the program and taxpayer money.” Continue reading.