It will likely surprise AIN readers to learn that Eclipse Aviation has changed its plans for initial and recurrent pilot training by forming an alliance with United Airlines.
Since May this year, the Albuquerque, N.M.-based developer of the Eclipse 500 very light jet has been promoting its own in-house program–which it called the “Eclipse Safety System”–as the pinnacle of what VLJ buyers can expect in the way of training, the model on which it hoped, for the good of the whole industry, all VLJ developers would base their own training programs. (The subjects of VLJ pilot training and insurability were covered in depth in AIN’s September issue, and the discussion of the topics generated considerable controversy in the form of letters to the editor in AIN’s October issue.)
Now, rather than handling training entirely in-house as originally envisioned, Eclipse said last month it has turned to United Flight Training Center (UFTC) in Denver–which in turn has entered into a separate agreement with Boeing-owned Alteon to provide the instructor pilots for the program. Training would take place at UFTC using full-motion simulators and conforming with a curriculum co-developed by United and Eclipse.
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