January 10, 2001
Delta Sets Course for Increased Diversity
New program will train women and minority pilots, who then will be given priority employment consideration by Delta.
SocialFunds.com -- Delta Air Lines announced yesterday a new initiative to boost the number of women and minorities piloting the nation's aircraft. It has developed a joint program with Western Michigan University (WMU) that will train between 24 and 40 women and minority pilots over the next four years. Once the training is completed, the pilots will be given preference for employment by Delta Connection carriers Comair and Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA).
"This investment in quality pilot education will ensure that we are able to continue to build a superior Delta team and will establish Delta as a leader in the hiring of women and minority pilots for many years to come," said Mac Armstrong, Delta's executive vice president of operations.
The program is getting off the ground with $1.65 million in support from Delta. Participants will include qualified graduate and undergraduate students who will be trained using WMU's "ab initio," or "from the beginning," flight training curriculum.
In the past, airlines tapped the military to fill most of its pilot positions. A smaller military has meant a smaller pool of pilots, so airlines are looking for innovative ways to bring highly trained individuals into the commercial pilot ranks.
The ab initio curriculum is a European-style flight-training regimen that takes students with no previous flight experience through a complete program, preparing them for employment as first officers at commercial airlines. Currently WMU is the only institution in the world approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to provide ab initio training according to FAA regulations.
The first of eight graduate students recruited for the Delta program will begin a 14-month training course in May. In addition, four undergraduates will be recruited to begin WMU's four-year bachelor's degree program next fall. Delta and WMU will work together to recruit and screen candidates for both levels of training.
This diversity initiative by Delta is not coming out of the blue. Last June, two law firms filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) alleging discriminatory employment practices at Delta. The complaint was filed on behalf of five African-American women who claim they witnessed systematic discrimination in compensation, promotions and performance evaluations.
The attorneys representing the plaintiffs previously gained notoriety as members of the legal team that sued Coca-Cola for discriminatory employment practices. Coke settled the suit late last year in a $192.5 million package that included compensation for the plaintiffs and third party verification of internal employment practices.
Delta, a company listed in the Domini 400 Social Index, seems to be taking the issue seriously. In August it announced the appointment of Belinda Stubblefield, an African-American, as Delta's first vice president of global diversity. Delta now seems to be moving forward with the initiation of the new pilot training program. The complaint alleging discrimination is still pending, as the EEOC has yet to make a ruling.
Workplace diversity and fair employment practices are important social investing issues. Social investors therefore may be interested in monitoring Delta's diversity commitment. Considering that only one percent of pilots and flight engineers are minorities and only five percent are women, Delta seems to have made a good start.
www.delta.com