www.Parctel.com: Regional airline pilot training is being revolutionised by Eastern Airways as it invests in its very own state-of-the-art Jetstream 41 aircraft simulator.
The *award winning niche carrier, which is the largest operator of Jetstream 41 aircraft in the world, has entered a partnership venture worth $12 million with one of the world’s leading pilot training centres - Pan Am International Flight Academy – and had thea simulator delivered to its headquarters at Humberside Airport in North Lincolnshire.
The investment enables Eastern Airways’ Jetstream 41 pilots to be trained in-house, on site, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. With over 90 Jetstream 41 aircraft flying throughout the world, the simulator will also be available for use by other airline operators.
“No other regional airline our size has its own aircraft simulator and this new initiative demonstrates just how committed we are to further developing our pilot training by bringing specialist simulator training in-house,” said captain Matt Wood, Eastern Airways’ flight operations director. “We fly more Jetstream 41s than any other airline in the world and this venture will provide enhanced training benefits to our pilots and engineers.
“We will also be providing a vital service to other airlines with customers booking in from as far afield as South Africa and the Far East. This initiative will also result in considerable efficiency savings, as pilots will be trained by our own team of experts,” added Matt Wood.
Humberside Airport’s managing director, Rob Goldsmith said: “We are thrilled that Humberside Airport has become a centre of excellence for pilot training through the tremendous endeavours of our resident airline, Eastern Airways. The airline already specialises in aircraft heavy maintenance and it is very exciting to see major development in pilot training taking place in a new simulator facility here at Humberside.”
Pilots are required to train on the simulator at least twice a year and up until now Eastern Airways’ 150 pilots who fly the Jetstream 41 have had to travel to Washington DC in America, which was the nearest location for the simulator.
The cockpit layout and performance of the simulator is identical to that of the Jetstream 41 aircraft. Recurrent and initial pilot training will take place on the simulator. It has an enormous database of navigational and radio aids and its systems 100% simulate hundreds of life-like flights routings.
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