Story ID: 
Thales Opens Center To Elevate Safety Culture
By: Matt Thurber
Caption: Facility initially serves Bordeaux campus but will expand to other locations
Word Count: 215
Thales has opened a new Flight Safety Center at its Bordeaux, France facility to promote “understanding, sharing, and advancing air safety culture.” Employees, customers, partners, suppliers, regulatory authorities, and industry experts are invited to visit the facility to learn more about air safety challenges and receive training, as well as share best practices and explore new aviation technologies.
Both civil and military personnel will use the Flight Safety Center for interactive experiences, technology demonstrations, and real-world operational feedback, according to Thales. This will help with their understanding of “how safety is built throughout the life cycle of an aviation system, from design and development, to certification, operation, and maintenance.”
Eventually, Thales plans to expand the Flight Safety Center concept to multiple strategic sites to enhance skills of its 21,000 employees working in civil and military aviation. 
“Flight safety is the foundation of trust in aviation,” said Thales executive v-p avionics Yannick Assouad. “Behind every safe flight are advanced technologies, rigorous processes, a culture of transparency and learning from experience, and, above all, dedicated women and men. Our Flight Safety Center was designed to bring this safety culture to life, share it with our entire ecosystem, and work together to prepare for the challenges of tomorrow’s aviation.”