United Airlines has begun constructing a new $16 million flight attendant training center near the carrier’s Washington Dulles hub in Fairfax County, Virginia. The 20,000-foot facility will be capable of training as many as 650 flight attendants per month and is expected to open in 2025.
The centerpiece of the training center is a mock aircraft fuselage where flight attendants will practice evacuation techniques and other emergency management situations in dynamic scenario-based learning exercises.
Along with multiple classrooms, the facility will also include special ‘door trainers’ that allow flight attendants to practice opening and closing various models of aircraft doors. These door trainers also enable flight attendants to practice emergency evacuation commands.
This is the second new flight attendant training center that United Airlines has invested in over the last few years. In 2023, the airline opened a $32 million training facility near its Houston hub, which has a 125,000-gallon pool for practicing aircraft ditching emergencies.
The Houston facility is used to train new-hire flight attendants through an intensive full-time six-week course, while the new Fairfax training center will be used for the more experienced crew who have to attend annual refresher courses known as ‘recurrent training.’
“At United, we have the industry’s best flight attendants, and we’re thrilled to be opening a new best-in-class facility in support of their ongoing training right in the backyard of our Washington Dulles hub,” commented John Slater, United’s SVP on inflight services.
“This new training center is yet another step in our long-term investment in our people and our commitment to growth here in the Greater Washington region.”
United has recently embarked on two flight attendant recruitment events as it seeks to grow its inflight workforce alongside an expanded route network. Next summer, the airline has ambitious plans to serve as many as 147 international destinations, including 40 non-stop routes that no other US carrier serves.
