Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao Joins American Airlines as they Pledge to Invest in America’s Workers

DALLAS, TX – U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao today joined American Airlines Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Doug Parker at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport as the company signed on to the White House’s “Pledge to America’s Workers,” committing to creating 22,000 training and education opportunities.

“We are asking companies and trade organizations to sign the Pledge to America’s Workers – committing to educate, train, and reskill American workers from high-school age to near-retirement,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao.

On July 19, 2018, President Trump signed an Executive Order establishing the National Council for the American Worker. Comprised of senior Administration officials, the National Council for the American Worker is charged with developing a national strategy for training and retraining the workers needed across high-demand industries. The group convenes voices from the public, private, education, labor, and not-for-profit sectors to enhance employment opportunities for Americans of all ages.

As part of this historic initiative, the Administration is asking companies and trade organizations to sign the “Pledge to America’s Workers” – committing to expand programs that educate, train, and reskill American workers from high-school age to near-retirement. American Airlines joins more than 200 companies and organizations across the country that have signed the Pledge, contributing to over 10 million new education and training opportunities for American students and workers over the next five years. These organizations come from many sectors of the transportation industry, including airports, air carriers, aerospace, automotive, rail, and transit manufacturers, and construction suppliers, contractors, and labor unions. More information on the “Pledge to America’s Workers,” including a list of participating organizations, is available at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/pledge-to-americas-workers/

The U.S. Department of Transportation has launched a number of job training initiatives in the spirit of the “Pledge to America’s Workers,” with a special concentration on addressing labor shortages in the transportation sector by providing career pathways for military veterans.

To address the nation’s commercial pilot shortage, the U.S. Department of Transportation launched a Forces to Flyers Initiative on November 16, 2017, offering military veterans a path to becoming commercial pilots. During the three-year initiative, researchers are studying pathways for entering the pilot workforce, identifying barriers to training and employment, and designing and implementing an initiative that can provide flight training to veterans.

The Department also recently launched an “Under-21 Military Driver Pilot Program” to help veterans who have received heavy-vehicle training in the military transition into good-paying commercial trucking jobs while also helping the trucking industry recruit and retain drivers.