San Antonio (May 1, 2000) - Fairchild Aerospace has reached agreement with FlightSafety International (FSI) to provide operational training for Fairchild's 428JET and 728JET family of airliners. FlightSafety will work with Fairchild Aerospace to develop facilities and a training syllabus for pilots, flight attendants, mechanics, and aircraft dispatchers for the 44-seat 428JET and the 55- to 105-seat 728JET family, both now in early production stages.

Under the agreement, FlightSafety will build and operate two FAA/JAA certified Level D simulators at two training sites to be selected later. The simulators will feature an enhanced visual system and state of the art technology providing better than 99-percent operational reliability. Each location will include a Level 6 Flight Training Device and Egress Trainer.

In addition to flight crew training for 728JET operators, the company will train corporate pilots for Envoy 7 operations. FlightSafety will handle entitlement training for new operators as well as continuing training for flight crews in ongoing operations. The 728JET is the first member of a new family of Fairchild airliners in the 55 to 105-seat class.

It is the only product line that offers complete commonality over a broad range of airliners in the 105-seat and below market. Launched in May 1998, the 728JET family features an inner cross section of 128 inches, with wide 18-inch seats, a 19-inch aisle and large overhead storage bins. The aircraft has a range of more than 1,700 nautical miles in the standard version, and 2,300 nautical miles in the extended range version.

The 428JET is a 44-seat version of the 328JET in service around the world. Fairchild is developing the 428JET in cooperation with Israel Aircraft Industries. IAI will engineer changes in the aircraft from the 328JET baseline, manage certification, and produce "green" airframes at its factory near Tel Aviv. The aircraft will be finished at Fairchild's main production facility in Oberpfaffenhofen, near Munich. FlightSafety International is the world's largest pilot training organization with 42 learning centers and more than 200 FAA certified full flight simulators. FlightSafety, headquartered at New York's LaGuardia Airport, was founded in 1951.

Fairchild Aerospace Corporation is a leading manufacturer of jet and turboprop aircraft for the airline, corporate and government markets and provides a wide range of sales, support, production and engineering services for the aviation industry. In addition to facilities in San Antonio, Texas, and Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, Fairchild Aerospace has offices in Washington, D.C. and other locations worldwide.