Video: Interglobe's new A320 flight simulator training centre near New Delhi

by Devesh Agarwal

Late last month we reported on the Interglobe-CAE joint venture simulator training centre near New Delhi. Here is a video promotion of the same facility.


With a hat-tip to @neelammathews

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Boeing and Korean Air commence construction of new aviation training facility

By BA Staff

Boeing participated in a groundbreaking ceremony with Incheon and Korean Air for construction of Korea's largest new aviation training facility to be located in Incheon's Free Economic Zone (IFEZ).

The new campus, which is slated to open in 2015, will allow Boeing to expand the scope of its training business in Korea and continue its long-standing training relationship with Korean Air.

The facility, once complete, will house 12 full-flight simulators for pilot training programs supporting Korean Air's flight training needs.
Once the campus is complete, Boeing will relocate its existing training support staff and equipment to the new facility.

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InterGlobe and CAE inaugurate India’s largest pilot training facility

by Devesh Agarwal

Rahul Bhatia, InterGlobe, Marc Parent, CAE

InterGlobe Enterprises, the parent company of India’s largest domestic airline, IndiGo, and CAE, a global leader in flight simulators and training, inaugurated India’s largest pilot training facility in India. Located in Greater Noida, in the National Capital Region (NCR), the Centre, CAE Simulation Training Private Limited (CSTPL), is a joint venture between InterGlobe Enterprises and CAE with an initial investment of $25 million.

The Centre starts with two CAE Series 5000 A320 full-flight simulators certified level D, and has the capacity to expand to six simulators. The facility provides "wet" and "dry" type-rating, recurrent, conversion and jet indoctrination training for commercial aircraft pilots of IndiGo, and will commence training, GoAir’s A320 pilots from December. CSTPL will also be the first centre in India to impart Airbus certified training, and can train up to 5,000 pilots per year.

CSTPL is the fourth aviation training location that CAE operates in India. CAE already trains more than 1,500 crew members every year at its training centre in Bengaluru, the first independent training centre in India and the first to earn approval as a fixed-wing Type Rating Training Organisation (TRTO). CAE also operates a joint venture helicopter training centre in Bengaluru and in partnership with the Government of India, CAE operates ab-initio flight schools in Gondia and Rae Bareli, located in the parliamentary constituencies of former civi aviation minister Praful Patel, and India's first political dynasty, the Gandhis.

India is expected to be the fourth largest aviation market in the world, with a large demand for narrow-body pilots. IndiGo and GoAir have placed orders for 180 and 72 A320 family aircraft respectively. IndiGo already has 71 A320-232 aircraft in its fleet from an original order for 100 A320s.

The country's other two major carriers, Air India and Jet Airways have their own in-house training facilities.
 

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FAA issues final rule on pilot training

By BA Staff

The United States Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a final rule on the training of commercial air carrier pilots.  

The final rule stems in part from the crash of Colgan Air 3407 in February 2009 near Buffalo, NY, and addresses a Congressional mandate in the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010 to ensure enhanced pilot training. This rule is one of several rulemakings required by the Act, including the requirements to prevent pilot fatigue that were finalized in December 2011, and the increased qualification requirements for first officers who fly U.S. passenger and cargo planes that were issued  in July 2013.
The final rule requires:

• ground and flight training that enables pilots to prevent and recover from aircraft stalls and upsets.  These new training standards will impact future simulator standards as well;
• air carriers to use data to track remedial training for pilots with performance deficiencies, such as failing a proficiency check or unsatisfactory performance during flight training;
• training for more effective pilot monitoring;
• enhanced runway safety procedures; and
• expanded crosswind training, including training for wind gusts.

In addition, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta is inviting the nation’s commercial aviation safety leaders to Washington, D.C. on November 21, to discuss additional voluntary steps that can be taken to further boost safety during airline operations, including pilot training.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said:

“Today’s rule is a significant advancement for aviation safety and U.S. pilot training. One of my first meetings as Transportation Secretary was with the Colgan Flight 3407 families, and today, I am proud to announce that with their help, the FAA has now added improved pilot training to its many other efforts to strengthen aviation safety.”

FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said:

"This pivotal rule will give our nation’s pilots the most advanced training available. While the rule marks a major step toward addressing the greatest known risk areas in pilot training, I’m also calling on the commercial aviation industry to continue to move forward with voluntary initiatives to make air carrier training programs as robust as possible.”

The FAA proposed to revise the training rules for pilots in 2009, one month prior to the Colgan Flight 3407 accident. The FAA issued a supplemental proposal on May 20, 2011, to address many of the NTSB’s recommendations resulting from the accident, and incorporate congressional mandates for stick pusher, stall recovery and remedial training.  A stick pusher is a safety system that applies downward elevator pressure to prevent an airplane from exceeding a predetermined angle of attack in order to avoid, identify, or assist in the recovery of a stall.

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Boeing Launches 787 Training in Miami

Training capability at Miami campus enhanced across airplane types

by BA Staff

Florida Gov. Scott and BFS VP Carbary in the 787 simulator

Boeing launched customer training for its 787 Dreamliner aircraft in Miami, Florida, site of the company's largest commercial aviation training campus. Aeromexico and LAN Airlines are the first two customers to train on the new 787 suites at the Boeing Flight Services Miami campus.

At an event attended by Florida Governor Rick Scott as well as a number of other federal, state and local officials, community leaders and airline customers, Boeing also established Miami as its pro forma flight training campus for the Americas -- the location where airline crews will receive the initial training provided to Boeing customers for new model airplane introductions.

Sherry Carbary, vice president, Boeing Flight Services said

"Miami has always been an important Boeing training campus and the largest campus in our global network. Now it will also play an expanded role in training the pilots and technicians who will fly and maintain the groundbreaking 787 Dreamliner," "Miami's location at the crossroads of the Americas offers tremendous advantages as a preferred location for airlines based in Latin America, Canada and the United States. Customers also travel from Europe, Africa, the Middle East and China to conduct training in Miami."

Boeing has greatly enhanced its overall training capability in Florida following an announcement in March 2013 that the company would relocate training devices from Seattle to Miami. To better serve airlines and meet growing personnel training requirements, two 787 full-flight simulators are now located at the Miami campus as well as an additional Next-Generation 737 full-flight simulator and 717, 747 and 767 simulators. An additional 777 simulator will be located in Miami later this year. These seven devices will bring total capability in Miami to 17 full-flight simulators across airplane types, making the campus one of the largest commercial flight training facilities in the world.

The consolidation of Boeing flight training campuses in the Americas is designed to bring training closer to where customers operate, reducing travel times for airline crews and the costs of sending students for training. Miami is an international hub for commercial aviation training and provides geographic diversity within the framework of Boeing's global commercial training network - and convenience that airlines prefer.

About the Boeing Edge

Boeing offers a comprehensive portfolio of commercial aviation services, collectively known as the Boeing Edge. Read more here.

Boeing Flight Services, is a business unit of Commercial Aviation Services, and operates a geographically diverse network of 20 flight and maintenance training campuses on six continents. In addition to Miami, Boeing offers 787 training in strategically located campuses in Singapore, Shanghai and London.

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