United Airlines is set to launch a project that could bring thousands of jobs to a new campus near Denver International Airport.
Earlier this summer, the Denver City Council agreed to rezone 114 acres along East 64th Avenue to make way for United’s new training center.
“United is in the process of increasing the size of its fleet and expects to have 700 new planes by 2033. This increase in the number of planes (and the consequential need for more pilots) requires a significant increase in flight training center capacity,” the airline’s representatives wrote in a rezoning application.
The new center will have up to 60 full-flight simulator bays across four buildings and will likely include offices, meeting rooms and amenities. Earlier filings showed it could one day employ 6,000 people, though that number will be much lower in the near term. The property is just west of the hotels and restaurants along Tower Road.
As required by the city code, 10% of the site will be set aside as publicly accessible open space and connected to nearby streets and trails. Much of the open space will be on the west side of Telluride Way and along Dogwood Gulch, on the north and west sides of the properties.
“This facility and the people who work here in Denver are critical to our ability to keep our global operations safe, transporting more than 600,000 passengers daily,” said Robert Thomas, vice president of flight operations for United.
Each of the airline’s 18,000-plus pilots is required to come back to Denver for their recurrent training,” Thomas said, which happens more than once a year, bringing an estimated 31,000 visitors to the city per year.
United is the city’s largest private employer, and Denver is its “fastest growing hub,” according to the airline. It already operates a training center on its Quebec Street campus in Denver, which was recently expanded and will stay in operation. “Now that the land has been rezoned, United will begin formal site building plans and anticipates groundbreaking on the expanded Flight Training Center to begin sometime in 2027 with the facility expected to be operational around 2030,” wrote Russell Carlton, a spokesperson for the airline.
The project’s buildings could total more than 1 million square feet. With a fairly flexible new zoning status, the airline will have some options for how it develops the property.
United bought the land in 2023 for $33 million. The rezoning won unanimous council support.
Andrew Kenney
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