Airways NZ and Leidos to collaborate on air traffic management opportunities

Air navigation services provider Airways New Zealand and global science and technology provider Leidos have agreed to work closely together on future air traffic management (ATM) opportunities under an agreement recently signed in Washington.

The two organisations have already been working together on the design and build of the SkyLine-X air traffic management system, a $58 million system that will replace Airways’ two existing ATM platforms. Given the success evident in the SkyLine-X programme, the organisations have been exploring other commercial opportunities, where customers can derive the benefits that each organisation provides.

This latest agreement, signed by Airways International CEO Sharon Cooke and Leidos Vice President Fran Hill, lays the foundation for Airways and Leidos to cooperate on several customer opportunities spanning the air traffic management sector, including a joint flow management solution anticipated in the near term.

“The co-development of the SkyLine-X platform really does provide a launch pad for an exciting and much broader collaboration with Leidos,” Airways International CEO Sharon Cooke says. “We value the long-standing relationship we have, and we’re excited about this new commitment to work together, where Airways will complement Leidos’ ATM capability with our training, simulation, and technical support expertise.”

“At Leidos, we look to collaborate with organisations that encapsulate our mission to make the world safer, healthier, and more efficient through information technology, engineering, and science,” says Fran Hill, Senior Vice President for Transportation Solutions at Leidos. “Through a strong relationship with our customer Airways New Zealand, we are jointly making the world’s airspace more efficient by validating next generation ATM technologies in one of the largest areas of airspace in the world, and taking those proven solutions to market.”