Alaska Airlines Fully Adopts Boeing’s Virtual Airplane Training Platform

Boeing has today announced that Alaska Airlines is advancing their pilot training with the full adoption of the company's Virtual Airplane training platform.

Alaska Airlines Adopts Boeing's Virtual Airplane (VA) Training Platform - Courtesy Boeing

On Tuesday (May 5, 2026), Boeing announced from the World Aviation Training Summit (WATS) in Orlando, Florida, that Alaska Airlines has signed a formal license agreement for Boeing’s Virtual Airplane (VA) training platform.  Alaska Airlines has been a key development partner throughout the creation and development of the platform, providing valuable feedback that helped shape the innovative training platform.  Virtual Airplane is a device-agnostic, modular training solution that enables pilots to practice high-fidelity, authentic procedures within the Procedures Trainer app.  The solution supports realistic, repeatable practice, while also offering a free‑play Flight Management System (FMS) for authentic data entry and exploration, so operators can standardize training, reduce simulator familiarization time, and accelerate pilot readiness.

In Tuesday’s announcement, Boeing’s VP – Commercial Training Solutions, Chris Boom, said,

“Alaska Airlines' commitment to innovation and safety has been instrumental in the development of Virtual Airplane.  We are proud to see this partnership evolve as they move from beta testing to full adoption, leveraging Virtual Airplane to enhance pilot training and operational readiness.”

Also commenting on the new training platform partnership, Alaska Airlines’ Managing Director – Flight Operations Training, Jeff Severns, said,

“Our collaboration with Boeing on Virtual Airplane has allowed us to provide our pilots with flexible, realistic training tools that complement traditional simulator sessions.  We look forward to fully integrating this technology into our ground school curriculum to further improve training effectiveness and pilot proficiency.”

Procedures Trainer is the first module for Boeing’s Virtual Airplane, and is now available for Boeing 737 MAX training on computers and tablet devices.  Boeing has plans to expand Virtual Airplane to additional airplane models in the near future, including the 737NG, 787 Dreamliner and 777X.  Today’s agreement with Alaska Airlines reinforces Boeing’s commitment to delivering innovative, scalable training solutions that meet the evolving needs of the aviation industry.  For more information about Boeing’s Virtual Airplane training platform, please click here

A leading global aerospace company and top U.S. exporter, Boeing develops, manufactures and services commercial airplanes, defense products and space systems for customers in over 150 countries.  Boeing’s U.S. and global workforce and supplier base drive innovation, economic opportunity, sustainability and community impact.  Boeing is committed to fostering a culture based on their core values of safety, quality and integrity.

Source: Boeing / PRNewswire