At Boeing centre in Skolkovo is going to work the team of Boeing Digital Aviation International Division, which together with Russian IT-specialists will be engaged in the development and provision services for process airline companies automation in sphere of organisation and execution of flights. In the training centre is established Next-Generation Full Flight Simulators 737 and 777.

In the opening ceremony participated Russian Deputy of Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, Deputy of Transport Minister Valery Okulov, head of the Federal Air Transport Agency Alexander Neradko, President of the Skolkovo Viktor Vekselberg, the US Ambassador to Russia John Tefft, vice president of Boeing Flight Services Sherry Carbary, the president of the Boeing Company in Russia and the CIS Sergey Kravchenko.

The centre consists of two buildings: a gym and administrative and academic. The whole floor - more than 400 sq.m - is allocated to scientific and research centre, the total area of the building - more than 4 000 sq.m. At Boeing centre in Skolkovo is going to work a team of Boeing Digital Aviation International Division, who together with Russian IT-specialists will be engaged in the development and provision services for process airline companies automation  in sphere of organisation and execution of flights.

The research Centre will focus on the sphere of Civil aviation projects  in cooperation with Russian universities and organisations. The work on solving urgent problems of Aviation Science, flight safety, metallurgy, create units and parts is planned.

Boeing aviation training and research centre in Skolkovo is the newest high-tech platform for theoretical and practical training of aviation personnel in the region: the pilots, engineer and technical specialists and flight dispatchers. Skolkovo Training Centre will enable the customers to significantly reduce the cost of training aircraft personnel by saving on organisational expenses, including airfare, accommodation and subsistence.

Training of aviation personnel at Boeing centre includes retraining pilots on the 737NG and 777 types, special courses and training of engineering and technical personnel, flight dispatcher. The centre will be able to produce more than 1,000 aviation professionals per year. There is also some space for the 4th simulator.

After the official ceremony AEX.ru was able to talk with the vice president of Boeing Flight Services Sherry Carbary.

 Sherry Carbary: Vice-President of Boeing Flight Services Sherry Carbary, manages a group of more than 1,200 employees around the world, responsible for training pilots, engineers and aircraft crew, also engaged in training centres in 16 educational campuses in 11 countries on six continents. He has a master's degree in business administration from Seattle University, and a BA degree in Economics and Finance from Eastern Washington University.  A member of the NextGen Advisory Committee (NAC), which advises the Federal Aviation Administration of United States (FAA) for implementation NextGen air traffic management in the United States.

- Cooperation between Boeing and Russia has been going on quite a long time. Not only in the sphere of education projects, but also the engineering centre, manufacturing titanium products, etc. Here we can see the amount of attention given to this cooperation and by Boeing, and the part of the Russian state and Russian partners. What can you say about this centre? And why did you choose Skolkovo?

When we decided to create a training centre in Russia, we have considered a lot of different places. We came here and were impressed by the innovative concept because Boeing - is all about innovations. We are creating new technologies that will contribute to the safety and efficiency of the aircraft. We liked the whole concept of Skolkovo. This is also the reason why training and research centre is combined here. For example, we can produce the work in the research centre and immediately test the results on the simulator.

- What companies are in cooperation in this project?

- Our main partner - the Industrial Investors group headed by Sergei Generalov, we also cooperate with the company Kronstadt, which currently produces 737NG simulator for us, and, of course, Skolkovo.

- Can you tell a little bit more about the new B737 simulator manufactured by Kronstadt ? This is the first project of such kind in Russia.

- We are always looking for new manufacturers of the simulators. When we came here, we learned about Transas, which was reorganised into the Kronstadt Group . They are building great military and helicopter simulators, there are simulators of Russian civilian aircrafts. So we decided to try it. Flight simulators are currently in the process of production. Everything is going well, even though there are certain difficulties. It is not easy to create a commercial flight simulator, which behaves exactly like the real aircraft. It’s like building a mini-aircraft. We expect that the work will be done by the end of this year. We hope that next year you will come and see it in action.

- What is the amount of investments into the Boeing Centre in Moscow?

- I think it is too early to talk about the final amount of the investments, because it is really a huge complex. Just imagine, the average price of a full-fledged Flight simulator is from $ 10 to $ 15 million. Now there are two, soon - three and in the long term four simulators. We also have flat panel trainers. They represent themselves a kind of half of a full simulator. As you can see, this centre has many advantages.

- How many people will work here in this centre? How many Russian specialists?

- We are just beginning. We will continue to expand the staff with the growth of our centre. Now it employs about 30 people in our research centre, also from 30 to 40 specialists will work on simulators. Most likely, all of them are going to be Russian. If things go well, we are planning to find all instructors in Russia. All of them have been trained on the Boeing equipment in the past and will soon become our instructors.

- Are there any agreements with companies about personnel training in this centre?

- Yes, and we are very glad. We already have 6 customers. We can’t begin training until we get the final approval of state regulators. But as soon as we get all the necessary documents, immediately we are planning to start. And we are already very close to the goal. The customers really like the idea of the possibility of training close to home. They don’t need to send the pilots in Miami, Florida, spending a lot of time and money. They will now be able to come here, it will be very effective in terms of cost savings.

- Are there similar Boeing  centres in the world? What are the differences between this centre Skolkovo and others?

- We have 15 training centres around the world. They are bigger and smaller than this one. However, it is the only centre that will simultaneously engage a research. Now I see this centre as a potential model of what we do around the world in the future.

- In addition to the installation of another simulator, are there any plans for further expansion of this centre?

- We are continuing the dialogue with our customers about their needs. We hope that next year we will have another simulator, where the training will be held. If all goes according to the plan, we will expand and add more simulators. With proper success, you will see the appearance of additional Boeing service on this site or on the new one. We will continue to increase our presence in Russia. It also includes the "research in development" - a search for new materials and technologies. For example, we have a team of Digital Aviation Group, which is engaged in the development and provision of services for process of automation technological processes for the airlines in the organisation and execution of flights. This work will also take place here.

- How many Russian specialists are working in the Boeing Engineering centre in Moscow? They have their own individual tasks or they work together with their American colleagues?

- We have a 1,200 engineers who are doing basically the same as their colleagues in Seattle. It is good, when there is a possibility of day and night functionality. Engineers in Seattle can start working on something, and then transfer it to the engineers at the Moscow centre, it allows you to continue working without interruption. And this is one of the keys to our success.