Goose Creek, SC—May 17, 2017—TRU Simulation + Training, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, announced today that it has completed the delivery of an A320 Full Flight Simulator (FFS) to Avianca Airlines, the national airline of Colombia. The new Airbus A320 full flight simulator successfully achieved Level D qualification by the Colombian Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). As part of the FFS suite package, TRU has also completed the delivery of an A320 Flat Panel Trainer (FPT) to further support Avianca’s procedural training needs.

TRU will deliver a software package to update the FFS to the A320ceo & A320neo models in the near future. The delivery will mark the introduction of the airline’s first quad-engine option training capability for their A320 FFS. The A320ceo/neo differs from the standard A320 aircraft by offering new engine options along with the fuel-saving sharklet wingtip feature.

“TRU is proud to be considered a valued partner of Avianca, one of the major carriers in the region,” said George Karam, Vice President and General Manager of TRU’s Air Transport Simulation division. “We are delighted to be selected again to provide industry-leading simulation and training solutions to one of the region’s most forward-leaning airlines and one of the first airlines in the region to implement Evidence Based Training (EBT) as part of their training footprint.”

“As a world-class airline, Avianca has acquired these two new flight simulation training devices as part of the strategy to reach new challenges, making training processes stronger and providing greater opportunities to improve quality and safety which will benefit our customers in their experience with us,” said Diego Garrido Morales, Avianca’s Director of Technical Training Services.

Previously, TRU provided an ATR FFS-X TM and an A320 FFS-XTM to Avianca. The training device is installed at Avianca’s new state-of-the-art training center located in Bogota, Colombia.