EEOC Targets Jobs at United Airlines

WASHINGTON — The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission asked a federal court Monday to hold United Airlines in contempt for failing to hire enough blacks and women as pilots.

In a motion filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, the commission charged that United has failed to abide by a 1976 consent decree in which the airline agreed to hire qualified minority and women pilots at double the rate at which they applied for the jobs in relation to white males.

Based on data provided by the company, the EEOC said United received more than 32,500 applications for entry-level pilot positions between 1985 and 1987.

Among the 1,400 pilots hired, 75 were blacks or other minorities and 59 were women--a ratio smaller than the share of blacks and women in the pool of applicants, the commission said.