FlightSafety Announces 2012 Proficiency Protection Program

LaGuardia Airport, New York (April 4, 2012) – FlightSafety International announces the 2012 Proficiency Protection™ Program. It is designed to help pilots and maintenance technicians of business aircraft who have become involuntarily unemployed since January 1, 2012 to maintain their proficiency by providing no cost training while they look for new employment opportunities.

“We are pleased and proud to have helped our Customers through the Proficiency Protection program in the past. We now offer it again during 2012,” said Bruce Whitman, President & CEO. “This further demonstrates FlightSafety’s unmatched level of Customer service and support as the only training provider to offer this type of program. It is another example of the many unique benefits and advantages of training with FlightSafety and how we appreciate and reward the loyalty of our Customers.”

Proficiency Protection provides a no cost recurrent training course to pilots of business aircraft who were training under a FlightSafety Full Service contract at the time of involuntary job loss. The training will be provided for an aircraft type the pilot trained on under that agreement. Maintenance technicians who were enrolled in the company’s Master Technician program at the time of involuntary job loss may receive the next course towards the completion of the program at no cost.

To be eligible, the loss of employment must be as a result of a staff reduction or job elimination that has occurred since January 1, 2012. Those who have been provided FlightSafety training by a company, organization or individual since their job loss, or have been laid off temporarily, furloughed, or become unemployed for other reasons are not eligible. FlightSafety will schedule the training on an as available basis. The course must be started while the pilot or technician is unemployed and be completed by December 31, 2012.

The pilots and technicians who qualify and take advantage of this program are not required to repay the cost of the course or to enter into a new training agreement with FlightSafety once re-employed. Complete program details, including eligibility requirements and training request forms, are available at flightsafety.com.

FlightSafety provides training for business aircraft manufactured by Bell Helicopter, Bombardier Aerospace, Cessna Aircraft Company, Dassault Falcon, Embraer, Eurocopter, Gulfstream Aerospace, Hawker Beechcraft, Piaggio Aero and Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation and will soon offer training for AugustaWestland and HondaJet.

FlightSafety International is the world’s premier professional aviation training company and supplier of flight simulators, visual systems and displays to commercial, government and military organizations. The company provides more than a million hours of training each year to pilots, technicians and other aviation professionals from 154 countries and independent territories. FlightSafety operates the world’s largest fleet of advanced full flight simulators at Learning Centers and training locations in Asia, Europe, North and South America, the Pacific Rim and South Africa.