Multi-Million Dollar, State-of-the-Art Facility Will Be Home To
More Than 850 Pilots
On Thursday, AirTran
Airways celebrated the grand opening of its new pilot training
center in Atlanta (GA). Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and AirTran
Airways Chairman and CEO Joe Leonard officially dedicated the
center while flying in a flight simulator.
"The opening of this training center marks a major milestone for
our airline," said Leonard. "For the first time in our company's
ten-year history, we now have all our pilot training Crew Members
and equipment in the same facility. Our pilots will receive the
best training with the newest technology."
"The City of Atlanta welcomes AirTran Airways to its new pilot
training center in our city," said Mayor Franklin. "We consider the
airline to be a very valued member of our community, and we thank
them for selecting Atlanta as the site for this new training
center, as well as the new customer call center and maintenance
hangar that are scheduled to open soon."
The signature element of the facility is the aircraft simulator.
The center currently has three simulators operational - two for a
Boeing 717 aircraft and the third for a Boeing 737 Next Generation
aircraft. A fourth simulator will go on line in October, and
eventually will include six simulators.
Both recurrent and new
hire training for AirTran Airways' more than 850 pilots will take
place in the facility. Previously, the airline's pilots trained in
locations such as Long Beach, Calif.; St Louis, Mo.; Atlanta and
Miami. In addition to the simulators, the facility also includes
four state-of-the-art classrooms and a 25-computer lab for the
Computer Based Pilot Training (CBT). During a normal week,
approximately 60-75 pilots will be able to utilize the facility,
including the simulators, the CBT lab and the classrooms.
"This facility will save our company a significant amount of
expenses, such as per diem costs," said AirTran Airways President
and COO Bob Fornaro. "The proximity to our hub at
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport also will make it
much easier for our pilots to get to and from the training
center."
The center also includes offices that will house all of AirTran
Airways' Atlanta-based pilot training Crew Members, which
previously were located in a facility separate from the training
center. The building is owned by Alteon, a subsidiary of the Boeing
Company, and is leased to AirTran Airways.