LaGuardia Airport, New York (October 20, 2009) – FlightSafety International now provides professional aviation training to Customers from 154 countries and independent territories.
“FlightSafety’s mission has been to enhance aviation safety worldwide since Al Ueltschi founded the company in 1951,” said Bruce Whitman, President & CEO.” The fact that we now provide training to Customers from 154 countries around the world is a clear demonstration of FlightSafety’s contribution to aviation safety worldwide and our commitment to continue Al’s mission, vision and passion for safety.”
When the company first began, a handful of corporate pilots were flying converted military aircraft for industry leaders and wealthy individuals. These pilots, unlike their commercial airline counterparts, did not have and were not required to undergo any formal training.
With the introduction of purpose built business aircraft in the 1960’s, the owners and operators of these more complex aircraft realized the need for professional training. As a result, FlightSafety developed comprehensive training programs and added computerized flight simulators run by analog computers and equipped with hydraulic motion bases.
FlightSafety became the industry standard for training and by 1978 was the authorized training organization for 15 aircraft manufacturers and had 18 Learning Centers in the United States, Canada and Europe and was serving more than 1,200 corporations, domestic and international airlines as well as military and government agencies.
FlightSafety then began to manufacture its own simulators and flight training devices in 1978 for use at its Learning Centers. The company has since designed and manufactured over 570 for Military and Commercial customers worldwide and for use at its Learning Centers. In addition, FlightSafety has produced and delivered over 700 of its VITAL visual systems and is now a leading provider of visual display systems for simulation applications and massive optics for a variety of industrial markets.
FlightSafety became a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway in December of 1996 and has continued to grow and expand as an operating company of Berkshire Hathaway.
The company now provides more than a million hours of training each year to pilots, technicians and other aviation professionals on its fleet of over 300 flight simulators and other advanced training devices at 42 Learning Centers and training locations in the United States, Canada, Europe, South Africa and Asia.
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 factory authorized training for aircraft manufactured by Bell, Bombardier, Cessna, Dassault, Embraer, Gulfstream, Hawker Beechcraft, HondaJet, and Sikorsky.
