DENVER — United Airlines opened a new, 150,000-square-foot addition to its Flight Training Center in Denver's Central Park neighborhood Thursday.
The airline said with the addition, the center now has eight total buildings, more than 700,000 square feet of training space, 46 full-motion flight simulators, and 21 fixed-training devices.
The $145 million expansion adds capacity for 12 simulators, six of which have already been delivered. The new facility will have the potential to train up to 240 more pilots per day, the airline said. It's expected to lead to more than 370 new jobs, according to the airline.
The Denver facility spans 23 acres and is the sole training facility for the airline’s nearly 16,000 active pilots and all newly-hired pilots.
The airline said all United pilots complete intensive simulator training with pilot instructors and evaluators during the initial qualification process, and every nine months thereafter to maintain their certifications.
More than 1,600 of United’s 10,000-plus Denver-based employees work at the Flight Training Center, which was originally built in the 1960s as part of the Stapleton Airport complex.
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