United Airlines Completes Phase One Expansion of World's Largest Pilot Training Facility with $145 Million Investment
en.Wedoany.com Reported - United Airlines (United) and CAE jointly announced the completion of the Phase One expansion of United's Flight Training Center in Denver. Since 2022, the center has added 40 CAE training devices (including full-flight and fixed simulators), and now houses a total of 86 CAE training devices—52 of which are state-of-the-art full-flight simulators and 34 are fixed training devices—making it the largest facility of its kind in the world.
The expanded training center comprises eight buildings with nearly 700,000 square feet of training space, equivalent to 12 football fields. Located in Denver's Central Park neighborhood on 22 acres, the facility is the sole training hub for United's nearly 18,000 active pilots and all newly hired pilots. Every United pilot must complete intensive simulator training here with flight instructors and evaluators during initial qualification and every nine months thereafter to maintain certification. The training center can conduct more than 32,000 training events annually, train up to 860 pilots per day, and operates 24 hours a day, 362 days a year.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby and CAE President and CEO Matthew Bromberg jointly attended the Phase One completion celebration. Kirby stated: "United pilots are the best in the world, and the speed at which our team completed this project is an example of the investment we're making to support our exceptional standards." Bromberg stated: "This expansion reflects the strength of a partnership built over more than four decades. We are proud to provide United with the training technology, expertise, and reliability needed to develop pilots at scale, and we look forward to supporting their training needs for many years to come."
Phase Two expansion is already clearly planned. In July 2026, the Denver City Council approved United's rezoning application for two undeveloped parcels of land near Denver International Airport (DEN), which United purchased in 2023. United has begun formal site selection and construction planning, with the next phase of expansion expected to break ground on the new land in 2027, and the new facility is expected to become operational around 2030, operating alongside the existing facility.
In terms of investment and employment, United invested more than $145 million in the new building that opened in 2024, adding more than 300 new jobs and completing corresponding hiring. More than 1,600 people currently work at United's Flight Training Center across 24 departments, including flight instruction, flight evaluation, scheduling, pilot recruitment, human resources, and flight standards. United's total workforce in Denver exceeds 11,400 people. In 2025, pilots coming for training spent nearly $40 million on hotel accommodations in Denver, with that figure expected to approach $50 million in 2026. The training center was originally built between 1966 and 1968 as part of the Stapleton Airport complex and has served as United's primary pilot training facility ever since. Since 2016, United has invested a cumulative total of $370 million in the center.
As the home of United's fastest-growing hub, the company has invested nearly $1 billion at Denver International Airport since 2021 to enhance the customer experience, including new gates, new United Club locations—including the largest lounge in United's network—and a new check-in lobby. United operates more flights and carries more passengers than any other airline in the state. This summer, United averages 570 daily departures from Denver International Airport. The airline offers service from Denver to more than 200 destinations, including more than 20 international destinations. United hired more than 1,400 people in Denver last year and plans to hire more than 1,300 in 2026.
United is the career destination of choice for pilots, boasting the largest widebody fleet in North America and the most comprehensive global route network and hub system in the United States. Since announcing its "United Next" growth strategy in 2021, United has hired more than 9,500 pilots. In 2026, it has hired 700 pilots to date, with plans to add several hundred more by year-end. Of United's nearly 18,000 pilots, 4,500 are military veterans. Its pilot pipeline includes first officer hiring, the Aviate® career development program, United Aviate Academy in Goodyear, Arizona, and a military pilot program launched in September 2023—which provides full-time active-duty U.S. military pilots a pathway to conditional first officer job offers. Nearly 600 military pilots have joined United through this program since 2024, with an additional 500 expected to join by the end of 2027.
