Former American CEO Launches Pilot Recruitment Charity

Former American Airlines CEO Doug Parker and his wife Gwen have launched a nonprofit dedicated to addressing the pilot shortage by attracting women and people of color to the profession. Parker told NBC/DFW that Breaking Down Barriers will target young people in underserved communities and "create a pipeline of pilots ready to hire." He said many young people don't even consider an aviation career because there are so few role models. “They don’t see people that look like themselves that have these jobs in their communities but in a few years they will,” Parker told the station.

He said that lack of awareness plus the cost of training are the major barriers to tackle and the group is looking for mentors, volunteers and financial contributions to start tackling them. The group will actively seek out prospective candidates for scholarships that will be used to fund training. Volunteers and mentors will also head out to schools and community groups to spread the word that aviation careers are open to everyone. “It’s a wonderful profession. It’s a noble profession,” Parker said. “The only problem we see is that there are some people who think that it’s not even available to them. It’s simply not true. It’s available to all. It should be available to all.”