Alaska Airlines is making a crucial investment in pilot training, a little more than one year after it became entangled in the ongoing Boeing 737 drama.
The carrier, which is in the midst of merging with Hawaiian Airlines, announced a significant investment in Loft Dynamics, a company leading the way when it comes to developing virtual reality (VR) flight training simulators.
Made through the airline's corporate venture capital arm, Alaska Star Ventures, the investment seeks to develop a Boeing 737 full-motion VR flight simulator.
Eventually, simulator users will be able to benefit from a six-degrees-of-freedom full-motion platform, a 360-degree panoramic 3D view, advanced full-body pose tracking and customizable training scenarios and environments.
These features will enable users to "replicate real-world physics, force feedback from flight controls and all haptic sensations of the aircraft" while "providing correct visual cues inside and outside the aircraft" and "allowing pilots to see their hand and body movements in real-time within the VR environment."
The simulators should also allow "pilots to practice any situation, condition, and maneuver safely and realistically."
Other highlights include the simulator's compact size—requiring just 1/12th the space of legacy full-flight simulators—a virtual demonstration mode that allows instructors to record immersive lessons and compatibility with the LoftSPATIAL app for Apple Vision Pro to enable pilots to use spatial computing to train anytime, anywhere.
Loft Dynamics Boeing 737 VR simulators. (Photo Credit: Loft Dynamics)
Once ready, the Boeing 737 VR simulator will have to be submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for approval in the next few years. Until then, Alaska said it and Loft Dynamics will explore training enhancement opportunities for pilots to supplement existing FAA-required training.
"Alaska has a long history of pioneering aviation advancements, from launching the first online ticket sales to becoming the first airline to design and implement satellite-based approaches. Now, by investing in the development of full-motion VR simulators, Alaska is once again moving the industry forward," Loft Dynamics founder and CEO Fabi Riesen said in a statement.
"With aviation safety as a top priority and a global pilot shortage still looming, this partnership paves the way for airlines worldwide to train the next generation of exceptional pilots more efficiently and effectively than ever before."
"Pilot training has significantly evolved over the past 30 years, from training solely in an aircraft to using full-flight simulators. With the potential of Loft's hyper-realistic VR simulator, we could be transforming commercial pilot training as we know it today," added Capt. Jeff Severns, managing director of flight operations training at Alaska Airlines.
"These VR simulators could provide a fully immersive, high-fidelity, data-driven experience that replicates real-world flight scenarios — all in a device compact enough to fit in a standard office. This accessibility could allow pilots to train more frequently and refine their skills with greater efficiency. We are committed to offering the most advanced training solutions available, including VR, and look forward to being Loft's first fixed-wing customer."
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