academy to help fill a critical shortage of airline pilots. in december he joined the first class outside of phoenix. >> as soon as i had my first flight and we left the ground, i knew this was for me. i was hooked. it is just a completely different feeling than being on the ground. >> reporter: the industry predicts a shortage of 12,000 pilots in north america next year with too few pilots coming from the military and private pilot training costing $100,000, prohibitive for many, all airlines are scrambling to fill their cockpits. united plans to hire 10,000 pilots over the next eight years, half of them graduates of its new academy. ceo scott kirby. >> this is a way for you to ensure that the pilots are trained to the specs, to the qualifications you want? >> in the way that the military trains pilots, with upset recovery training. really a unique approach to pilot training to train the next generation of pilots for united airlines. >> reporter: new yieted says 50% of the students will be women or minorities.