Pan Am International Flight Academy (PAIFA) has won contracts to establish simulator centres for Atlantic Coast Airlines and DHL Airways. PAIFA, which operates a simulator centre in Miami, won a contract earlier this year to build and operate a training centre for FedEx.
Under the 10-year agreement with Atlantic Coast, PAIFA will provide simulator training for the Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet Series 200. The Academy will build a training centre close to the United Express carrier's Washington Dulles base, to be completed in the fourth quarter of 1999, and install a simulator on order from CAE Electronics.
Under its contract with cargo carrier DHL, PAIFA will build a simulator centre in Cincinnati, Ohio, to be completed in the first quarter of 1999, where it will provide training on the Airbus A300, Boeing 727-200 and McDonnell Douglas DC-8-70.
Atlantic Coast and DHL will be "anchor customers" for the new centres, but PAIFA plans to install additional simulators at each location to service other customers. The Dulles centre will have four simulator bays, the Cincinnati base will house five.
Under its contract with FedEx, the academy is building a training centre to support the cargo carrier's "supplemental air operations". The Memphis, Tennessee, centre will be equipped with a Level B simulator for the Cessna Caravan and a Level D machine for the Ayres Loadmaster, both of which being produced by Intelx.
PAIFA, which was acquired by a US investment firm earlier this year, is meanwhile expanding its Miami base, adding four simulator bays and taking the total to 19.
Source: Flight International
