Alaska Airlines Next Generation Flight Simulator First to Receive Highest FAA Certification.

Business Editors, Aviation Writers

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 23, 1999

The world's first B737NG (Next Generation) flight simulator to receive FAA Level D certification will be put into operation on December 28 by Seattle-based Alaska Airlines.

The $15 million simulator was granted the certification, the highest level possible under FAA regulations, December 14 by the FAA's National Simulator Program Evaluation Board.

Level D certification means that the state-of-the-art unit is so advanced that it could, in theory, be used to certify someone who has never flown an airplane of this type to fly a Next Generation Boeing 737 with all of his or her flight training taking place in the simulator.

Alaska Airlines will use the simulator to enhance the flying skills of its already air transport certified pilots and to train them to fly the Next Generation Boeing 737-700 aircraft. Alaska is currently flying six of these aircraft with orders for 13 more. Eventually the new simulator will be modified in a dual configuration that will allow Alaska to train its pilots on the B737-900 aircraft, the first of which is scheduled to roll off the assembly line in 2001.

Alaska's new simulator was built in England by Thomson Training & Simulation. It features real time visual displays that transition from day to night, high fidelity sound, full motion and vibration that accurately mimics a real aircraft in flight. The visual displays show actual buildings and ground terrain surrounding airports served by Alaska Airlines. They were created through computer modeling of photographs taken by an Alaska Airlines photographer at some of the more challenging airports the carrier serves. They are detailed down to cruise ships tied up at the dock in downtown Juneau.

The cockpit configuration of the new simulator is identical to that found on real Alaska jets. This includes advanced flight technologies used by Alaska such as the PFD/ND (Primary Flight Display/Navigation Display) system, the Allied Signal EGPWS (Enhanced Advanced Ground Proximity Warning System), the Flight Dynamics Heads-up Guidance System, and the Smiths Industries FMC Flight Management Computer with GPS (Global Positioning System) utilizing RNP (Required Navigational Performance) procedures, which makes this simulator the most advanced in the world.

As of June 2000, Alaska Airlines will serve 43 cities in the U.S., Canada and Mexico when it begins seasonal service to Chicago. Recently, readers of Travel & Leisure magazine voted the carrier the "World's Best Domestic Airline," while readers of Conde Nast Traveler voted the carrier the best major U.S. airline.