US carrier JetBlue to hire and train pilots with no experience

Dallas

JETBLUE Airways Corp, breaking with historical practices at US airlines, plans to recruit potential pilots with no flight experience and provide its own training under a proposal awaiting approval from federal regulators.

The programme would be the first of its kind in the US and would be similar to those used by some European and Asian carriers. Candidates would have to meet US requirements, including 1,500 hours of flight experience, to be certified as commercial airline pilots, JetBlue said.