Beta Technologies has selected CAE as its partner of choice to design and develop its pilot and maintenance technician training programme for the Alia eVTOL aircraft. CAE will leverage its decades of training expertise to develop a full suite of innovative, digitally integrated curriculum and courseware solutions for the aviation workforce of tomorrow. The new training programme will be built from the ground-up, in parallel with Beta's aircraft certification journey, taking into account the unique operational and mission specific inputs for this aircraft.

Advanced air mobility (AAM) covers a range of new aircraft, enabling transport of people and cargo between places previously not served or underserved by civil aviation, with eVTOL aircraft at the forefront. In support of this emerging market, CAE's dedicated advanced air mobility group offers training and operational support solutions to help innovative companies, such as Beta, certify their eVTOL aircraft, train their pilots and maintainers, and scale standardised AAM operations across global markets.

“CAE has a rich history in participating in the development and launch of many innovative aircraft,” says Kyle Clark, founder and CEO at Beta. “Flying and maintaining electric aircraft requires an understanding of electric systems and flight dynamics that are new to aviation. Our team is thrilled to be bringing in CAE's expertise into the fold as we work hand in hand to teach the next generation of pilots and mechanics the unique aspects of flying and maintaining electric aircraft.

“We are drawing on CAE's close to 75 years of aviation industry thought leadership to help accelerate the advancement of the advanced air mobility industry. We are very excited to partner in the enablement of this new generation of aviators and technicians, who we believe will play a key role in the future success of this revolutionary industry,” adds Nick Leontidis, CAE's group president, civil aviation training solutions. “CAE is a high technology solutions company at the leading edge of digital immersion, and we are committed to supporting the continuing needs of Beta and its operators throughout the lifecycle of the programme. This marks the first step in what we believe will be a long-term partnership with Beta and another example of our commitment to future aviation technologies and sustainability.”

Beta brings a diverse customer base to the advanced air mobility market. Beta is the first eVTOL to receive manned airworthiness from the US Air Force and the company has customers across a suite of industries including logistics (UPS Flight Forward), medical (United Therapeutics), passenger (Blade), and military (U.S. Air Force). Beta has hundreds of hours of manned full-scale flight testing and recently flew its Alia aircraft over 200 miles.

In November 2020, CAE released a report on 2020-2029 Pilot Demand Outlook in which it was estimated that an expected global requirement of 264,000 new pilots were needed in the civil aviation industry to sustain growth over the next ten years. This does not take into account the additional surge in demand for pilots and technicians in advanced air mobility. CAE is committed to leveraging new digital technologies and developing training methodologies designed for a faster, better and more efficient throughput of highly qualified pilots and maintenance technicians for this new era of aviation.

CAE has also recently partnered with eVTOL OEMs Volocopter and Jaunt Air.