ATR's recent opening of a new training center for its -600 series turboprop twins in Miami marked the first such move for the company in the Americas, where some 260 ATRs—including seventy-five 600-series models—now fly. In Latin America and the Caribbean alone, the ATR fleet has doubled within the last decade, and the company expects the number of 600-series airplanes to exceed 100 within the next three years. Still lacking a U.S. customer for the 600, however, it believes the move to Miami will help rekindle interest in the States as well.
The Miami facility, located at the Airbus training premises, houses a CAE-built FAA and EASA level-D ATR 42/62-600 simulator, classrooms and interactive pilot procedures trainers. ATR now provides only initial type and recurrent pilot training at the Miami facility, though it plans eventually to offer maintenance training there.
“The opening of this new training facility at one of the key hubs in America falls in line with ATR’s customer-support strategy aiming to provide pilot training solutions close to its customers,” said Christian Scherer, ATR's recently installed CEO. Conceding that aircraft passengers in the U.S. generally regard turboprops as old technology, Scherer made the trip to Miami to emphasize the lengths ATR has taken to refute that notion. “Our 600-series aircraft are not old propeller airplanes," he said. "We believe we have a very economical, comfortable and modern product that appeals strongly to the airlines’ bottom line. And passengers will appreciate the roominess of the cabin seats and overhead bins versus the cramped regional jets, as well as how quiet it is inside.”
ATR's five training centers, which include facilities in Toulouse, Paris, Singapore and Johannesburg, currently provide more than 100,000 training hours annually and train more than 3,500 pilots each year. “Due to the global expansion of air transport, airlines are expected to need 600,000 new pilots within the next 20 years,” said Scherer, who noted his company will need to add at least one new simulator per year to keep pace with pilot training demand for turboprops. In fact, ATR expects to add another full-flight simulator for the 600 series at its Paris training center this summer.