Today, Boeing presented an interesting professional simulation tool powered by Microsoft’s popular flight sim, Microsoft Flight Simulator.
The product is simply named “Virtual Airplane Procedures Trainer,” and according to the press release, it’s powered by both MSFS and Microsoft’s cloud platform Azure. It was presented at the European Aviation Training Summit in Cascais, Portugal.
The application is the first of a product suite simply titled “Virtual Airplane,” and it’s designed to provide flight training professionals and pilots with a tool for realistic practice focused on flight deck procedures.
It includes the following:
- High-fidelity simulations: Pilots experience 3D simulations in light-weight devices to help standardize training, reduce simulator familiarization time, and improve readiness before working with flight training devices.
- Intuitive authoring tool: Training operators manage content through an intuitive, configurable self-service authoring tool that lets them author, customize, and distribute training lessons across their training programs. With the authoring tool, airlines can launch or change procedures instantly to their pilot pool.
Below you can see a trailer of the application, and we can certainly recognize Microsoft Flight Simulator’s engine.
For the moment, the tool focuses on the Boeing 737MAX, but training for the older 737NG, the 787, and the 777X will come “soon.”
The press release includes a comment from Chris Broom, vice president of Boeing Global Services, Commercial Training Solutions.
“The launch of Virtual Airplane underscores our commitment to pilot training and enhancing aviation safety. With this product, pilots can hone their skills and training operators can tailor lessons to meet individual and organizational needs.”
We also hear from Dayan Rodriguez, Corporate Vice President, Manufacturing and Mobility at Microsoft.
“Microsoft is committed to accelerating learning while optimizing confidence for pilots with safety at the core. Partnering with Boeing, we are advancing the future of flight by empowering the people at the heart of it.”
Incidentally, it’s very likely that prominent third-party Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 developer PMDG is involved with the creation of this project. The developer has been holding back the launch of its Boeing 737MAX for MSFS 2024 due to its work on a project with Boeing. And that’s likely what this is.
We heard a little while ago that said project was completed, so the timing also fits. In the meantime, we’re waiting very eagerly for the launch of the 737-800 for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.
That being said, Boeing’s tool is (obviously) not available to the public, as it targets professional customers, who are encouraged to contact Boeing via the official website for a demo.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is available for PC and Xbox Series X|S.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is also available for PC and Xbox Series X|S. It’ll be released for PS5 on December 8, 2025. If you’d like to learn more, you can check out our recent interview with Head of Microsoft Flight Simulator Jorg Neumann.
If you’d like to read more flight simulation news, you can find plenty in our latest roundup article from yesterday.
If you want to go further back, we have a handy overview video of the major flight simulation news in the past week. You can watch it below. As usual, leaving a like and a comment and subscribing to our growing YouTube channel is extremely helpful.
