Necessity is the Mother of Invention
For those not familiar with Metro Aviation, it has two main facets to its business. First and foremost, it is an EMS helicopter operator with over 130 aircraft a Part 145 maintenance, repair, and overhaul facility, as well as a helicopter completion center.
According to Palmer and Mike CEO, the impetus for creating HFTC was two-fold. Twelve years ago, Metro Aviation saw value in using simulation when it began using FlightSafety simulators for certain aspects of its Part 135 training programs. Not only is simulation training less expensive, but it also reduces the risk of damaging aircraft in training. However, as
cost of paying retail prices for training from a variety of third- party vendors began to grow as well. So the initial idea for creating HFTC was born out of necessity. It was a way to bring both pilot training and mechanic training back in-house, allowing for cost effective improvements in quality and standardization.
In addition to having an in-house business need for training, Stanberry said that Metro Aviation was getting feedback from many of its customers. “Our customers kept telling us that we were doing a great job on the completion side of the business, and that they were sending their pilots and mechanics to the facility during the various stages of completion,” he said.
A few years ago, the internal need for training its own staff crossed paths with what its customers were saying, and the lightbulb went off: HFTC was put in motion. The idea for building a training center for only Metro to understand; there was a real need for it. The alternative idea was one that I am sure made some in the industry scratch their heads. The big idea:
How can we create an extremely cost- effective training center that focuses on pilot training, mechanic training, and dispatcher training, and how can we offer it to other helicopter operators—including our competitors?
COMM Lab is a state-of-the-art dispatch and communications training center.
56 Jan/Feb 2016
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86