Pan Am Flight Academy
Pan Am International Flight Academy (PAIFA) is the only remaining division of the once iconic Pan Am Airlines, forced into bankruptcy in 1991 after the infamous terrorist attack on Pan Am Flight 103[1]
Aviation School
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 and flight attendant training.[2]
Pan Am International Flight Academy has training centers located through out the United States and access to many training centers around the world. Pan Am International Flight Academy currently ownes 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, McDonnell Douglas DC-9/MD-80 (All Models), McDonnell Douglas DC-10, Canadair Regional Jet CRJ-200, Embraer EMB 170, Saab 340, Cessna Caravan CE 208. Pan Am International Flight Academy also supplies training for Flight Attendants, Aircraft Mechanics, and Air Trafic Controlers
Founded in 1992, the company began operating by using the flight simulation and training center of the then defunct Pan American World Airways. In 2006, American Capital Strategies invested $58 million in PAIFA with their trademarked “One Stop Buyout™."[3]
Sept 11th Attacks
On August 17 2001, Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called “20th hijacker” of the September 11, 2001 attacks, was arrested after a teacher at Pan Am International Flight Academy became suspicious of him.[4] 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.”[5]
Television & Film
Because of their flight simulators and professional aviators, the Pan Am Flight Academy often lends their equipment and experts to TV shows and films.[6]
In addition to its Miami headquarters, PAIFA has facilities in Ohio, Minnesota, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Arizona, and Virginia.