Justin Ritter, United Airlines Chief of Hiring, explains how to get hired in 2025!

Ready 4 Pushback

Nik Fialka

Business, Careers, Leisure, Aviation

4.8 • 716 Ratings

🗓️ 17 March 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, we sit down with Justin Ritter, United Airlines' Chief of Hiring, to uncover exactly what it takes to land a pilot job at United in 2025. Justin shares insider hiring trends, competitive pilot profiles, and crucial application tips that can make or break your chances. From the 1,200+ pilot hires expected next year to the most common mistakes applicants make, this episode is packed with must-know strategies for aspiring United pilots. We break down how hiring has evolved, why military and regional pilots have unique opportunities, and what networking events and interview prep can do for your chances. Whether you're a regional airline captain, a transitioning military pilot, or an aspiring aviator looking to break into the majors, this conversation delivers the inside scoop straight from United’s top recruiter—information you won’t find anywhere else! What You’ll Learn in This Episode: United’s hiring outlook for 2025 and beyond—how many pilots they’re hiring and what’s changing What makes a pilot competitive, including key experience, flight hours, and leadership roles How military pilots, FedEx/UPS pilots, and regional airline pilots fit into United’s hiring strategy The latest recency and hiring requirements, including preferences for civilian and military pilots How networking at conferences like Women in Aviation and NGPA can boost your application Essential interview tips, from logbook accuracy to answering behavioral-based questions United’s policies on citizenship, immigration, and hiring priorities Why captain upgrades at regional airlines are highly recommended for career progression The importance of keeping your application updated and engaging with aviation communities If you're serious about becoming a United Airlines pilot, this episode is packed with must-know insights!

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Be ready for takeoff anytime with 3D-stretch, stain-repellent, and wrinkle-free aviation uniforms by Flight Uniforms. Just go to www.flightuniform.com and type the code SPITFIREPOD20 to get a special 20% discount on your first order. Big Rock - Take the Lead by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, pilot, welcome to you ready for pushback after hours. I'm Nick Fialca. You're joining me today with a special guest, Justin Ritter, Director of Hiring from United Airlines. We're happy to have them today. First off, 1,500 plus people here tonight. What a big opportunity for everybody to just listen and dive deep.
0:23.6	We're thankful, we're grateful that you guys are here tonight. It's going to be a lot of fun.
0:29.6	We're going to answer your questions. The first thing I want to do is tell you that if you are going to interview with United, you have to be on your
0:39.6	A game. You have to be prepared. Justin and his team, they see thousands and thousands of pilots
0:45.4	every single year. And a lot of them go away empty-handed. And I'll tell you what, don't put yourself
0:51.9	in that position. Your career is worth a lot more than that. And so,
0:57.6	I want you to join the Spitfire community. I'm going to put up a coupon code right now for you.
1:02.8	And this coupon code is going to give you 15% off for our services. You can use it until March 6th at
1:09.9	midnight. So that's when it expires right
1:12.4	so write that down that is really important you'll be able to join the Spitfire
1:17.3	community you'll be able to understand all the academics of how we do
1:22.8	interview prep we're never going to teach you what to say but we will teach you how to get points on the board.
1:29.3	And every word you say, every choice that you make has impact and it's important.
1:35.3	So if you want to join our team right there, there's your code. We usually only do a 10% discount.
1:41.3	So special night tonight, you all get a 15% discount. So that's a great thing.
1:46.2	Next, we always give back. We are focused on always, always, always making sure that we can do more
1:53.8	to provide more to you, the pilot. And the first thing that we are doing is our webinar series.
2:01.4	And so check this out.
2:03.0	Even tonight, we have a, my buddy Jason's going to be doing a webinar tonight.
2:07.9	You can grab that QR code, grab that with your phone.
2:11.1	If you would like to sign up for tonight's webinar, it's all focused on preparing for the
2:15.7	Women in Aviation Conference coming up in Denver,
	...

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