Why Diversity Matters at UPS Airlines

Leon Johnson wears two hats at UPS. As employee relations manager for flight operations he handles human resources functions; as a management pilot for the company, he serves as an Airbus A300 check captain. Johnson shares his opinions on the benefits of a diverse work force, the importance of exposing children to aviation careers early and explains why he does not expect the current state of black representation among pilots to change in the next few years. Three percent of UPS' pilots are black.

Why is a diverse work force important?

One of the things we look at is the fact that the demographics of America are changing. As a company that does business in every community in America, we need to reflect the demographics of the people we serve on a daily basis. We need to be proactive in our involvement with the communities and groups within the communities that will help us achieve those ends.

How specifically does a diverse work force benefit your company and eventually, the client?

It allows us to better relate to the customer and the customer's needs. This benefits us by ensuring we have a more satisfied customer. It benefits the customer by giving them the confidence to know that we are a company that cares enough to care.

Does UPS see the fact that there are so few African American commercial pilots as a significant issue? Are there any specific initiatives in place at the company for recruiting African American pilots?

Back in 1988 when the airline was being formed the leadership of the company called in the presidents of the black aviation organizations and said 'we are starting an airline and we would like your input on how to do it, whom we should be talking to and how can we get a diverse work force from the very beginning.' From that genesis comes the involvement by UPS and the black aviation organizations. We have carried forward with that over the years by staying involved with these organizations and supporting their outreach efforts, both nationally and locally.

We facilitate this by having both management and line crew members participate in conventions and conferences. Several of our crew members are elected officials at the black aviation organizations. UPS provides funds each year to these organizations to help their scholarship and outreach efforts and community involvement.

Do you feel you've been successful with these initiatives?

We have been successful in that we have helped these organizations maintain their level of involvement in communities. In a career like aviation, where you have to start from the bottom up and it's very expensive, you have to create the awareness that there are opportunities. Then you have to facilitate the involvement by the young men and women who show an interest in pursuing the profession; so they are able to get flight lessons in the early stages of their career, get help in their job search and are sure to receive the proper training to get their advanced pilot licenses.

At hiring time, the airline will be able to reap the reward by being able to interview these candidates and determine whether they are ready for that job at the top of the food chain. But it's a long, long process.

We have to start talking to kids in middle school because that's when decisions are made about what classes to take. It's around the time when they should begin to realize that math, science, language skills are important.

There's an ongoing initiative called ACE--Aviation Career Education program--across the nation. The FAA has become involved and they help sponsor camps because it's all about exposure. In one year, you might expose 600 kids but out of that 600, there might be six that move onto the next level.

Do you project an increase in the next few years of black pilots among the commercial carriers?

I wouldn't say we're going to have any large increases in the next few years.

Today, we're laying a foundation to a house and that house still has to be built. The foundation is important because without a solid foundation the house will not stand; the foundation is creating these ACE camps, creating the scholarship programs for these individuals to come through, spreading the word out into the communities of the world and our nation so that as these young folks come forward.

We will see the results in the future, but only nominal results now because we're dealing with people that are already in the pipeline. But it's about keeping the pipeline full. Right now there's a trickle coming through. We have to do things today to fill that pipeline. And until you've done that, we won't see large increases.

--Johnson was interviewed by Patricia Brown

Special Report: Blacks In Aviation