HOUSTON, Texas — United Airlines has a new training center right here in Houston.
The airline showed off its newly expanded Inflight Training Center Tuesday, which features a number of hands-on training areas that will hopefully get flight attendants ready to handle whatever situation may come up during a flight.
From an inflight decompression to an emergency landing, United Airlines’ new training facility teaches it all. It even has a 125,000-gallon pool and mock fuselage area for flight attendants to practice a safe evacuation of a plane into the water.
It’s hands-on training you can’t learn from a textbook.
“Just being able to put it into action. To be able to jump into the water, to board a raft, to feel what it feels like to board a raft, to actually put a canopy up," United Airlines Specialist Curriculum Developer Jennifer Schauman said.
“For us, this facility really brings to life really what’s on paper when it comes to training," United Airlines Inflight Service Training Director Mo Quinn Mariano said.
Tuesday, the airline held a ribbon-cutting ceremony, officially opening the expanded facility in Houston. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee were in attendance.
"Things are continuing to happen out here at the intercontinental airport," Mayor Turner said.
“I am very grateful that United has taken this seriously," Congresswoman Jackson Lee said.
Going beyond safety, the facility also houses a cabin simulator so flight attendants can practice their customer service.
“We do customer boarding, we do de-escalating techniques, a lot with service as well," United Airlines Instructor Evaluator Specialist Norma Jean Rodriguez said.
Under the six-and-a-half-week training course, United says it can train more than 600 flight attendants a month at its new facility.
To apply for a job as a United flight attendant, click here.