Ryanair is using FlightDeckToGo, a virtual reality flight deck trainer for the Boeing 737NG from Visionary Training Resources (VTR), to prepare pilot cadets before they reach the simulator. Trainees sit in the first officer's seat of an interactive B737NG flight deck on a VR headset, learning and rehearsing cockpit flows so they arrive at the simulator already familiar with the layout and sequence of each flow.
Announced on 29 October 2026, a five-year agreement keeps the trainer in place, following a six-month evaluation. Ryanair's Deputy Chief Pilot Flight Standards and Head of Training says the evaluation results gave the airline the confidence to make the trainer an established part of its cadet training programme.
How the training works
The trainer is fully interactive and offers Learn, Practice and Validate modes. Numbered flow lines in the virtual cockpit guide cadets through each flow, and the VR sessions come before simulator time. In a post-training survey, one instructor said trainees appeared at ease within minutes and needed no assistance.
Evaluation results
The figures below come from VTR's release of Ryanair's simulator and survey data and have not been independently verified.
- Ryanair compared 581 cadets who trained with the VR trainer against 420 cadets who trained before it was introduced, across three flight training device sessions.
- The VR-trained cadets showed statistically significant improvement in eight of nine rated core competencies.
- 111 cadets rated the trainer 9.2 out of 10 for immersiveness in post-training surveys (self-reported).
- 17 instructors rated it 8.9 out of 10 for procedural reinforcement (self-reported).
Agreement and partners
VTR, led by CEO Evey Cormican, supplies the trainer and describes the agreement as a continuation of its partnership with Ryanair. Ryanair is headquartered in Ireland and operates short-haul services across Europe and North Africa.
