Canada's CAE in talks with airlines to win more pilot training business

CAE Inc said Wednesday it is in advanced discussions with airlines about doing more training of their pilots after the company reported a bigger than expected quarterly loss due to COVID-19. The world's largest civil aviation training company is cutting costs and counting on the easing of travel restrictions to bolster demand for pilot-training services. Revenues from civil training, CAE's largest business unit, dropped due to travel restrictions and lower customer demand during the quarter ended June 30, with a center utilization rate averaging 33% compared with 76% during the same three months a year earlier. CE Marc Parent told analysts he sees opportunities to win outsourced training business from airlines, which are struggling to conserve cash. "We're currently in advanced discussions with a number of airline customers to potentially do more for them," he said. CAE said deliveries of flight simulators declined on an annual basis from five to two units during the quarter. CAE would make most of its anticipated 35-40 simulator deliveries during the back half of its fiscal year. Demand for CAE's flight simulators is linked to new aircraft deliveries by planemakers Boeing and Airbus, which are seeing lower jet sales.<br/>