JetBlue Program Shortening Path To Cockpit For New Pilots

Some 18,000 airline pilots will reach the mandatory retirement age over the next seven years, but finding replacements is becoming a huge challenge.

After the deadly 2009 crash of a commuter plane near Buffalo, New York, Congress raised the requirements to fly, increasing the training cost to more than $100,000 a pilot.

Now, one major airline is exploring a controversial solution, reports CBS News correspondent Kris Van Cleave.

Usually when someone makes it into the cockpit of one of JetBlue's multi-million dollar simulators, he or she is already a seasoned pilot, but that is about to change as the airline is experimenting with a new way to hire pilots.

As part of a new program, "Gateway 7," JetBlue will soon accept 24 people with little-to-no aviation experience and train them to be a co-pilot by 2020.

"It doesn't matter how many hours of pilot time you have -- thousands and thousands or a few -- the standards are the same. You have to meet the proficiency standards to be qualified and have the FAA certification or certificate," Warren Christie, senior vice president of safety, security and training of the JetBlue training center told CBS News earlier this year.

"It's a very scientific method that we use to train. We collect a lot of data on pilot training performance, along with all of our other groups so we know where additional emphasis is required," Christie said.

Read more on CBSNews.com.