Denver, CO
United Airlines launches program with MSU Denver Aviation students to streamline process to become a pilot
DENVER — As travelers and airlines deal with the impacts of aviation staffing shortages, companies are looking for ways to prepare for even more openings as current pilots head into retirement.
United Airlines and MSU Denver have teamed up to remove some of the barriers for aviation students and make sure there’s enough experienced candidates for the next generation of aviation.
“I’ve known since I was 4 years old that I wanted to wear this uniform and fly for United Airlines,” said United 737 Captain Monica Frain.
As students at MSU Denver will tell you, the love of aviation often runs in the family.
“My dad’s an airline pilot, he’s a pilot for United,” said Morgan Katnik, a senior in MSU’s aviation department.
He started flight training as a teenager, which he said requires a lot of work and a lot of time to do it on your own.
“There’s a checklist for becoming a private pilot, then you do your instrument rating, then commercial,” said Katnik.
The pathway to becoming a commercial airline pilot just became more streamlined with the launch of the United partnership with MSU Denver through the Aviate program.
“Once they’re in the Aviate program, they stay within our ecosystem of partners, (and) build their flight time. Once they reach 1,200 hours with one of our experienced field partners, like a Part 135 or one of our 121 UAX carriers, then they transition directly to United as a First Officer,” explained Frain.
To know that there’s a conditional job offer at the end of the program is a weight off of student’s shoulders.
“I don’t have to think about, ‘Will I have a job in two years? Three years? Five years? 10 years?’ I just really have to think about, ‘What do I have to do to get to my 1,400 hours of jet time,’” said Katnik.
It’s a forward thinking plan during a time where travelers and many airlines are feeling the impact of pilot shortages across the country.
“The pilot shortage has precipitated a reversal of doing: Paying for your own type rating — (that) went away — and [airlines] said ‘no, you don’t have to do that anymore.’ All these expenses and training started to the get taken over by the airline again, and their sole purpose is to look ahead,” said Kevin Kuhlmann, associate chair of Aviation and Aerospace Science Department at MSU Denver.
United said there’s also a strategy of working with younger aspiring students.
“By grasping on to this talent early, we’re actually able to develop them even more so that we have a more successful, talented pipeline coming in as pilots,” said Frain.
In fall of 2022, 674 students enrolled in MSU’s Aviation & Aerospace program. Of those students, 370 are studying to be a pilot.
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Denver, CO
Colorado State Patrol urges drivers to remain in Denver amid winter weather in the mountains
GEORGETOWN, Colo. — The Colorado State Patrol said the “best option” is to remain in Denver amid winter weather that’s impacting roadways in the mountains.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the agency said westbound Interstate 70 is closed at Georgetown due to unsafe conditions between Georgetown and the Palmer Divide.
There is limited lodging and parking in Clear Creek County, according to CSP. The agency said the “best option is to stay in Denver.” It is unclear when the roadway will reopen.
Eastbound I-70 traffic was held at the Eisenhower Tunnel due to a crash just east of the tunnel, according to CSP. The roadway has since reopened.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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Denver, CO
How Broncos’ Alex Singleton, Wil Lutz ended up in the Colorado Ballet’s rendition of “The Nutcracker”
If you find yourself in a Christmas chariot this week, perhaps a pair of Broncos will be carrying it.
Denver inside linebacker Alex Singleton and kicker Wil Lutz looked like pros over the weekend at the Colorado Ballet’s performance of “The Nutcracker.”
The duo made brief appearances in the ballet’s rendition of the Christmas classic on Sunday night at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House downtown.
They carried out a chariot with a ballet dancer inside at the start of the Arabian Dance. Then they stood on the stage and posed for a minute before their appearance was finished.
It lasted, Singleton told The Denver Post, maybe two minutes.
And it was nerve-wracking.
“Oh yeah,” Singleton said on Tuesday. “I didn’t know what to do. But it was kind of funny, we just stood there.”
The whole thing came about because the Broncos and the Colorado Ballet each have Dr. James Genuario on their medical staff.
That helped clear the path for Singleton, who is on injured reserve after tearing his ACL in September, to participate.
“That was my first question: Can I do it? And he was like, ‘Yeah, you’ll be fine,’” Singleton said. “I mean, I think the dancer weighed about 80 pounds and the carriage weighed about 10. So I carry more than that every day, which is nice.”
Range of motion is no problem exactly 10 weeks post-operation for Singleton.
“I got to 152 degrees,” he said. “Regular life is normal.”
Performing in a ballet, though, is hardly normal life. Singleton and Lutz had exactly zero advanced prep work for their big debut.
“I think it started at 6:30, we showed up about 6,” Singleton said. “At intermission, before we did it, they showed us how to do it and that was it. We just had to make sure the costumes fit us. … But it was really cool. We got to watch from backstage, meet all the people. It was really cool to see how it all runs and everything.”
Did you see Will Lutz and Alex Singleton in the Nutcracker with the @ColoradoBallet?🎄#BroncosCountry | @gs_off_field pic.twitter.com/Lon7TMqNj1
— Guerilla Sports (@guerillasports_) December 24, 2024
Singleton said he was not particularly familiar with “The Nutcracker,” Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet.
“I still don’t know the story,” he said. “We asked a couple of the dancers and they were explaining it to us. So I kind of know that it’s like a dream for the little girl where the Nutcracker comes alive, but that’s about it.”
Singleton, of course, was Denver’s leading tackler the past two years, a captain this fall and was calling Denver’s defense before tearing his ACL in Week 3 at Tampa Bay. The injury happened early in the game, but Singleton played the rest of the game with it before being told the severity of the injury that evening. He had ACL surgery on Oct. 15 in Los Angeles and then returned to spend time around the team and rehabilitate here.
Lutz has been a model of consistency in his second year kicking for the Broncos. Three days before appearing in the show he knocked home a pair of field goals against Los Angeles, including a season-long 55-yarder.
Lutz is now 29 of 32 for field goals on the season. The only kick of less than 50 yards he’s missed was a game-sealing block by Kansas City in Week 10. Lutz has also made all 38 extra points on the year.
His 90.6% field goal rate is sixth in the NFL among kickers with more than 20 field goal attempts.
On the Colorado Ballet’s social media channels, Singleton gave himself a 7 out of 10 and Lutz an 8 of 10, with the kicker saying he was proud that he didn’t blink once.
In the locker room, at least one teammate was skeptical.
“Oh my god, I had no idea what was going on,” tight end Adam Trautman told The Post. “All they did was pick something up. Now, if they’d have danced or something, that would have been elite. But no chance they can move like that.”
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Denver, CO
Denver apartment residents frustrated after months of problems
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