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By Sanjana Shivdas and Allison Lampert
(Reuters) - Aviation training specialists, which saw simulator sales plummet when the coronavirus pandemic brought air travel to a near halt, are getting some relief from an uptick in demand from cargo carriers and airlines gearing up for the Boeing <BA.N> 737 MAX's return to service.
Simulator makers Textron <TXT.N> and CAE <CAE.TO> had bet on a sales bonanza with Boeing recommending fresh pilot training on a MAX simulator for the aircraft grounded since March 2019 following two deadly crashes, when it finally flew again.
The pandemic dashed those hopes, crippling air traffic and casting doubt over the jet's future. Now they look to business aviation, a lifting of travel restrictions, revived hopes for the MAX's certification later this year or early next, and heavier cargo traffic to boost training and help through the simulator sales drought.
TRU Flight Training Iceland, a joint venture between Icelandair and Textron's TRU Simulation + Training, for example, is seeing continued demand from cargo pilots training on its Boeing 757 simulator, its managing director Gudmundur Orn Gunnarson said.
Cargo carriers and Icelandair are now the center's top sources of training activity, though that is roughly at half of where it was a year ago, Gunnarson said.
Canada's CAE, the world's largest civil aviation training company, said it was in advanced discussions with airlines about doing more training after it reported a sharp drop in simulator deliveries.
Both CAE and its U.S. rival Textron built 737 MAX simulators last year without formal orders, betting on pent up demand, but the pandemic dashed those expectations.
A CAE spokeswoman said the majority have since been converted to orders and been delivered.
CAE delivered 56 full-flight simulators in fiscal year 2020 ended on March 31, but only two in April-June. Textron in June suspended the production of simulators at its Montreal plant, cutting up to 1,950 jobs across several business units.
Textron and CAE see a quicker recovery in business aviation, where flights have dropped 4% in the U.S. year-to-date compared with 2019, even as commercial traffic plunged 45%, according to Flightaware.
Textron also sees demand in the simulator training market from schools and the military, said Vance Ontjes, TRU's director of training and customer services.
Gunnarson said the Icelandair joint venture has orders to lease the 737 MAX simulator for pilot training, though that will happen only when the plane is close to being certified.