WestJet Airlines and CAE Inc. have announced a significant partnership to establish a new aviation training center in Calgary. This multimillion-dollar facility will be built near the Calgary airport and is expected to open in 2028. The agreement marks a 15-year collaboration between the two companies, further solidifying Calgary's position as a growing aviation hub.

The new center will span 126,000 square feet and will feature eight full-flight simulators, cabin trainers, and digital learning tools. It is projected to train approximately 6,000 aviation professionals each year, including pilots and cabin crew. Matthew Bromberg, CAE's CEO, emphasized the growing demand for pilot training, stating, "Over the next decade, there’ll be a demand for over 300,000 pilots globally."

Construction of the Alberta Training Centre of Excellence will begin later this year. WestJet will serve as the facility's primary commercial airline customer, while also partnering with Mount Royal University to provide training for students.

The center is expected to create around 600 jobs during its construction and will employ between 25 to 50 permanent staff once operational. It will offer training on various aircraft, including the Boeing 737 Max, 737NG, 787 Dreamliners, and De Havilland Dash 8-400.

WestJet currently employs about 7,250 pilots and cabin crew, with plans to increase that number to over 10,000 in the next decade. CEO Alexis von Hoensbroech noted that the airline has been struggling to meet its training needs with its existing facilities, leading to the decision to partner with CAE, the world's largest training operator and simulator provider.

"We’ve actually been flying our staff all over North America — and sometimes even out to Europe — to do training on devices that we don’t have," von Hoensbroech said. He described the long-term training agreement as being valued in the "hundreds of millions" of dollars.

The new training center is part of a broader initiative to develop a major aviation hub in southern Alberta. This follows WestJet's recent announcement of a historic aircraft order, which includes at least 67 new planes from Boeing by 2034. Additionally, De Havilland Aircraft of Canada plans to build an airplane manufacturing complex in Wheatland County, and Lufthansa Technik is set to construct a $120 million engine repair facility in Calgary.

Calgary Airports has also outlined plans for an aviation technology and infrastructure hub called YYC AeroNex. This initiative aims to create a strategic center for development, training, and innovation in aviation. The airport authority has secured funding to advance several key projects, including the new training center and the engine repair facility.

The Alberta government has committed nearly $11 million to support the training center's development, as part of a memorandum of understanding signed with WestJet in October 2022. The new facility will be CAE's first dedicated training center in Alberta, adding to the cluster of aviation companies in the region. Chris Dinsdale, CEO of Calgary Airports, expressed optimism about the future of the aviation sector in Calgary, stating, "I think we can safely say that we have an aviation hub. We’re not building one . . . We basically have one now."