Leonardo has announced at Heli-Expo 2019 a substantial reinforcement of its helicopter training capabilities and services in the USA with the establishment of a new Training Academy within its production facility in Philadelphia. The new purpose-built campus is expected to be completed in 2020.
With a US$65 million multiyear investment, the new Training Academy will meet the increasing demand for comprehensive training services for pilots, cabin crew and maintenance technicians as the North and Latin America helicopter fleet grows. In 2018 over 10,000 students have been trained by Leonardo worldwide.
The Training Academy will also introduce a full set of dedicated services for the global customers of the AW609 tiltrotor, as mass production starts ahead of FAA civil certification, and the first US AW169 light intermediate helicopter Full Flight Simulator, both developed in collaboration with CAE and based on the CAE 3000 Series FFS. The Training Center will also host Rotorsim USA, a Leonardo-CAE joint venture which has delivered nearly 250,000 training hours for Leonardo helicopters products.
The 60,000 ft² US Training Academy will fully mirror Italy's Sesto Calende training syllabus approach from ground to flight training, providing a one-stop-shop for digitalized course, flight, simulation, mission specific and maintenance training.