| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as | NASDAQ: ACAS |
| Industry | Airline Training Pilot Training & Type Ratings |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Headquarters | Miami, Florida, U.S. |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | Vito Cutrone Chief executive officer |
| Products | Airline Training Solutions: Type Ratings, Flight Attendant Training, Air Traffic Controller Training, Dispatcher Training, Maintenance Training |
| Website | Pan Am Academy Official Website |
Pan Am International Flight Academy (PAIFA) is the only remaining division of the once iconic Pan American World Airways, which declared bankruptcy in January 1991 and shut down in December 1991. Pan Am International Flight Academy, Denver, was awarded the Export Achievement Certificate by the Denver office of the U.S. Commercial Services Division, a branch of the U.S. Department of Commerce.[1]
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The flight academy, headquartered in Miami, is an aviation school that specializes in training airlines and pilots from around the world. On a lesser scale, the academy also provides air traffic control Aircraft Dispatcher, Aircraft Maintenance training and flight attendant training.[2] In addition they lease flight crews and full-flight simulators to airlines and governments to meet customer needs.
Pan Am International Flight Academy has training centers located throughout the United States and access to many training centers around the world. Pan Am International Flight Academy currently owns and operates more than 40 simulators and trains on the Beechcraft 1900, Boeing 707, Boeing 727, Boeing 737 (All Models), Boeing 747 100/200/300, Boeing 747 400, Boeing 757, Boeing 767, Boeing 777, Airbus A300, Airbus 320 family, Airbus 330, Airbus 340 McDonnell Douglas DC-9/MD-80 (All Models), McDonnell Douglas DC-10, Canadair CRJ-200 and CRJ-700, Embraer EMB 170, EMB 190 Saab 340, Cessna Caravan CE 208.
In 1980, Mr. Vito Cutrone, then an officer within the original Pan Am, was given the responsibility to open the airline's International Flight Academy in Miami Florida. He managed this training division for the airline until the airline closed on December 4, 1991. Under the terms on the airline bankruptcy the training academy was permitted to remain open. Mr. Cutrone establish it as an independent training organization beginning in 1992 under its current name Pan Am International Flight Academy. Founded in 1992, the company began operating by using the flight simulation and training center of the then defunct Pan Am. In 2006, American Capital Strategies invested $58 million in Pan Am.[3] Pan Am International Flight Academy, based out of Miami International Airport, has trained substantial number of students from India.[4]
On August 17, 2001, Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called “20th hijacker” of the September 11, 2001 attacks, was arrested after an instructor at Pan Am International Flight Academy became suspicious of him.[5] In a piece in the New York Times, Michael Erlandson, chief of staff on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation is quoted as saying: “The Pan Am people are heroes who worked very diligently to make themselves heard at the FBI.”[6]
Because of their flight simulators and professional aviators, the Pan Am Flight Academy often lends their equipment and experts to TV shows and films.[7]
In addition to its Miami headquarters, Pan Am has facilities in Memphis, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Las Vegas, and London and is currently providing training to clients in Asia through participating partners.