Boeing 737 type rating: Lufthansa Flight Training sets standards in simulator training

April 7, 2003

To promise economical training is one thing; keeping that promise is something else. When airlines have their crews trained at Lufthansa Flight Training (LFT), they save money. The reason is an innovative training concept: that combines computer-based training (CBT), basic training in a simulator, plus type-rating certification.

The computer-based training programs enable a pilot to acquire the basic knowledge about a new aircraft type before he ever climbs into the simulator. This greatly reduces training time and helps ready the crews for their new surroundings much sooner. Moreover, all of Lufthansa Flight Training's full-flight simulators are certified for zero flight-time training. Hence additional training in an actual aircraft of the same type is no longer necessary.

Two B737 simulators with Boeing switching are available to pilots at the LFT training center in Bremen not far from the airport. LFT has another B737 simulator in Berlin at the Schönefeld airport. Those seeking training can choose either of two variants, wet-lease or dry-lease training. In wet-lease training, LFT provides the instructors. The training can be configured to meet each airline's specific needs. "Every customer can thus be sure that account is taken of its own special requirements," says Manfred Krause, General Manager Sales Cockpit Training. For customers preferring to provide their own instructors, dry-lease training is offered.

Like all LFT simulators, that for the B737 follow the master-aircraft concept. Hence every system upgrade in an actual B737 is matched in LFT's B737 simulators. Pilots who train in them can thus be sure that their flying skills will be up-to-the-minute and up to snuff. A wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa German Airlines, Lufthansa Flight Training has more than 50 years of experience in training cockpit and cabin crews. In addition to Lufthansa, many other well-known airlines look to LFT for training in emergency and service procedures, simulator training as well as for computer-based and web-based training.

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