Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC
Pan Am International Flight Academy (PAIFA) is to acquire Reflectone's training centres at Washington Dulles International Airport and St Louis, Missouri. The former British Aerospace facilities house simulators for the BAe 146 and for the Jetstream 31 and J41.
The Dulles site will accommodate the training centre that PAIFA is to operate for United Express carrier Atlantic Coast Airlines (ACA). It will provide J31/J41 training, and will house a Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet simulator on order from CAE Electronics, which PAIFA will operate for ACA.
The deal includes exclusive training contracts with Air Wisconsin, on the Dulles-based BAe 146 simulator, and Trans States Airlines, on a St Louis-based J41 machine, says PAIFA president Pedro Sores.
The acquisition is part of the Miami, Florida-based training company's ambitious expansion plan, which includes establishing simulator centres in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Memphis, Tennessee.
The Cincinatti centre will be "anchored" by a long-term contract to provide training for DHL Airways, for which PAIFA is installing Airbus A300B4, Boeing 727-200 and McDonnell Douglas DC-8-70 simulators.
The facility will also accommodate a second 727-200 machine, as well as devices for the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and DC-10, according to Sores. The DC-10 will be operated jointly with Gemini Air Cargo.
The Memphis centre is being established to provide training for FedEx on the Cessna Caravan and Ayres Loadmaster, but will also house a 727 machine and a Saab 340 simulator acquired from Northwest Aerospace Training, according to Sores.
The expansion will boost PAIFA's fleet to 33 flight simulators, he says, plus 16 flight training devices (FTDs). The majority of the FTDs are operated by general aviation training specialist Simcom International, which was acquired recently by PAIFA.
Simcom has training centres in Orlando and Vero Beach, Florida, and Phoenix, Arizona. It has also taken on PAIFA's Miami-based business jet simulators.
Source: Flight International
