Leonardo Helicopter Training Arrives in US

Leonardo has officially opened its new Helicopter Training Academy, located on their existing campus in northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that also includes production, support and administrative functions for the United States. The new Academy was first announced at the 2019 Heli-Expo in Atlanta and, despite the challenges of Covid-19, was able to open two years later, on schedule.

The new Academy is part of an $80 million investment in U.S. operations that will provide training services for a growing demand and need for pilots, cabin crews and maintenance technicians across North and South America. The Training Academy in the US will mirror the services provided by its sister facility in Sesto-Calende (Italy) offering ground, air and virtual training and leverages also simulator capabilities jointly developed by Leonardo and CAE and operated by their Rotorsim JV. The Academy, which is already up and running for customers, features training services for the AW119, AW169, AW139 models and will also be home to the training services for global customers of the world’s first tiltrotor set to receive civil certification, the AW609.

Gian Piero Cutillo, Leonardo Helicopters MD, added: “ Our new US Training Academy will help to serve the largest market for helicopters in the global industry, and will be part of a continued process to guarantee customer proximity and expand our range of offer. We are committed to devoting every possible effort to continue to build a training culture as part of our value proposition, a true benefit of all our stakeholders, customers, end-users.”