United is VERY PROUD of its “diversity” ...
But not entirely DEI as it is now called.
IMHO, we got lucky and most of the "diverse" hires were on average, as good or better than previous hires, excepting a few.
DEI and the hiring of business degree grads IMHO is probably affecting quality throughout all sectors.
Up until 20-30 years ago most of industry and transportation in the USA was run by engineering degreed management,
As they retired, business degreed people were hired and hired more of their ilk to take their places.
These drones have zero understanding of proper maintenance or anything else technical.
They only understand the bottom line.
Not "would I be comfortable with this part on a plane I am flying in", but "can we get it out the door".
JIT (Just In Time) and investors pushing for the highest returns on investment are also part of the picture.
Fortunately, about 15 years ago apparently the grand poobahs in the company I worked for must have figured this out.
Bright young engineers were being hired instead of business degree types and quality came back.