Bombardier Boosting Training, Pilots

Bombardier talked up two new customer service initiatives here Monday, showing that not all of its time is occupied with developing new aircraft.

Bombardier Aircraft president Mike Graff and Jeff Shaw of GE Capital, the new parent of SimuFlite, signed a joint venture agreement on Monday under which the two companies will establish a Learjet training center at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. The $60 million center will open with four full-flight simulators (two Learjet 45s, a 31 and a 60) in May 2000. It will be located in SimuFlite's newly expanded buildings at DFW. There will be space to install 10 simulators.

Bombardier already provides training for the Challenger, Regional Jet, Global Express and the CL-415 amphibian, but this is its first move into Learjet training. Bombardier and SimuFlite will jointly operate the new center, which is expected to attract 1,300 pilots and 400 maintenance technicians per year. Bombardier's FlexJet fractional ownership operation is also based in Dallas.

In another new program, Bombardier said it will offer a contract pilot program to operators of the Challenger and Global Express. The program is a response to the high demand for pilots, caused by rapid growth in corporate aviation and competition from expanding airlines. Initially, Bombardier will assign four pilots to the program; they will be made available to customers who need short-term pilots to compensate for illness, vacations or training.

By Bill Sweetman