Weekly of Business Aviation

September 17, 2007

Page 121

SAFERJETT LOOKS TO HOUSE VLJ TRAINING CENTER AT ALLIANCE – SaferJett has partnered with Hillwood Development to move forward with its plans to build a “center of excellence” for Very Light Jet training at Alliance Airport in Fort Worth, Texas. The company has traditionally focused on crew resource management training for the cargo and corporate aircraft markets, but in 2004 began a transformation from a company that focuses on “soft skills” training to one also involved in full VLJ training, the company said.

The company hired former American Airlines chief pilot and Alteon/Boeing senior executive Paul Hinton to steer SaferJett through the transformation, and began participating in government/industry round-training discussions about the challenges of VLJ training. “I think this is the most exciting segment in business aviation,” Hinton said, adding that the industry is facing a “real watershed moment.”

But Hinton added that the industry needs to take an “ecumenical” approach to training to ensure a smooth entry of the new breed of VLJs into service. VLJs could present some unique issues since they will attract lower-time pilots and operate in airspace with high-performance jets, he added.

SaferJett has been developing a training curriculum that meets the FAA’s FITS (FAA-Industry Training Standards) benchmarks and provides a combination of classroom, flight training device and simulator training for VLJs. Hillwood, a Ross Perot company, is providing capital investment and will be responsible for building the facility. SaferJett will lease the facility from Hillwood. SaferJett also has teamed with Aerosim and Mechtronix for the flight training devices and Pelesys for the computer-based training program.

The company is aiming to open a center at Alliance by late 2008 or early 2009. Construction of the center would begin about six months before then, Hinton said. Initial plans call for a facility that would have four bays along with classroom and other training support areas. But that could grow to eight bays, depending on the customer base.

SaferJett would secure Part 142 certification for its program and plans to have the training program vetted by key industry participants. He envisions that air taxi operations would be tailored for Part 121 requirements while the insurance industry likely will have substantial influence in the owner/operator market. For instance, he noted that insurance companies would like to see far more “mentor” flying for low-time pilots.

He also expects the program to include substantial use of the flight training devices. Hinton said he believes too much training takes place in expensive, full-motion simulators, training which he feels can be successfully accomplished using training devices and computer-based programs. Hinton estimated that the company will have between 30 to 40 instructors and mentor pilots on staff by the time the facility opens.