United Airlines on Thursday began a $20 million expansion of its flight attendant training facility in Houston.
More than 26,000 flight attendants work for the Chicago-based airline, and they were all required to complete six weeks of safety and service training in Houston.
The project will add about 50,000 square feet of new classrooms, training spaces, storage and, eventually, a commercial-sized swimming pool where flight attendants will practice using inflatable emergency rafts in the event of a water landing.
“This supports our future growth plans and is part of United’s ongoing commitment to provide our flight attendants with state of the art safety and service training," John Slater, United’s senior vice president for inflight services, said in a statement. "It also reflects our ongoing commitment to our local customers and the city of Houston.”
United is similarly investing $326 million on a new baggage system at Bush Intercontinental Airport that's expected to be operational in 2022, and it's spending $162 million for an expanded maintenance facility slated to open later this year.
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