United makes a splash with water landing practice in revamped flight training hub

United Airlines has opened its biggest in-flight training centre after spending US $32 million on doubling the size of its facility in Houston. At a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by chief executive Scott Kirby, congresswoman Sheila Jackson and city mayor Sylvester Turner, the carrier unveiled the revamped centre, which it said included extra classrooms and training spaces, cabin and door trainers and “a state-of-the-art aquatic centre to practice safe evacuation of the plane in unlikely water landings”. United said the project is in keeping with expansion plans that include the hiring of 15,000 people, including 4,000 flight attendants, in 2023. In