Lufthansa Aviation Training sells the flight school based in Goodyear (USA) to the United Aviate Academy. This is the end of the long history of the Group's own training for flight students at this location. But they will continue to work with United.

The transfer takes place with immediate effect. Both partners have also reached an agreement according to which UAA will carry out services for the training of flight students on behalf of LAT.

The United Aviate Academy will lease the Goodyear campus and infrastructure. In addition, UAA will also conclude a leasing contract for LAT's own training fleet, consisting of 25 Cirrus SR20 aircraft. As part of the overall agreement, LAT has options to purchase training services from the United Aviate Academy as future needs arise.

Up until the beginning of the pandemic, Lufthansa Aviation Training had trained pilots in its EFA flight school for both the Lufthansa Group Airlines and for the external market, covering the entire training process from the first theoretical lesson to the A / C type rating. The Lufthansa Group's flight schools have been successfully training pilots since 1955 and offer both the Multi-Crew Pilot License (MPL) and the Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL). Goodyear is one of the oldest training locations where the pilot students have so far completed their first practical training phase.

As a result of the enormous impact of the pandemic on the aviation industry, the training of new pilot students at the European Flight Academy had to be temporarily suspended, as the demand from the Lufthansa Group airlines for young pilots fell significantly. As part of the group-wide restructuring program, Lufthansa Aviation Training is streamlining its pilot training program in a new structure, while maintaining the highest quality standards in order to meet the needs of the market.

“Lufthansa can look back on a long and successful cooperation with United Airlines within the framework of the Star Alliance. We are pleased that we can underline this partnership in connection with our traditional flight school campus in Goodyear. We are convinced that both partners will benefit with a view to their needs - the United Aviate Academy can use a unique campus infrastructure and a modern training fleet, while LAT secures access to training capacities for the future and also the costs of training Flight students significantly reduced ”, says Matthias Spohr, Managing Director of Lufthansa Aviation Training.