That's fair. Because I said so.
But seriously, skill and qualifications will trump all at the end of the day. I don't work there, we'll see how it goes for them, but they won't crew their planes with unqualified pilots.
I don't think they'll crew them with unqualified pilots. I don't think they'll find some black dude on the corner and say, "hey man, we need a black guy flying planes. We'll pay you." That isn't how affirmative action programs like this work. What they'll do is allow race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, etc. to become enough of a factor that people who are more qualified but the wrong color, gender, etc. are passed over (as they are in academic admissions). So you'll still get trained pilots. They just won't be the best and most qualified pilots that United can hire - not because minorities can't make exceptional pilots. They certainly can, and plenty of them are. However, those who can don't need an affirmative action program. The ones who do are going to almost necessarily be subpar compared to some of the people not being hired.
Will it make a difference? Hopefully not, but when we're talking about an aircraft with hundreds of people onboard who face almost certain death if things go wrong, you'd think that merit and qualifications would basically drive everything.