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NEW YORK: Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co. said on Monday they formed a strategic alliance to bid on air traffic control contracts, as the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration prepares to overhaul its aging system.
The collaboration brings together the world's biggest defense contractor and the leading commercial planemaker to work on ways to play a part in the modernization of the FAA's air traffic control system, in the face of massive predicted growth in passenger numbers.
Under the alliance, Boeing's Phantom Works unit will work with Lockheed's Transportation and Security Solutions unit in a bid to combine Lockheed's air traffic management experience with Boeing's knowledge of aircraft systems.
The companies said they will initially focus on creating an air traffic information grid, and developing systems that allow more automation in flight management and better integration with other countries' air systems.
The U.S. air system is set to grow two- or three-fold by 2025, the companies say, and is likely to hit 1 billion passengers per year by 2015, according to analysts.
The FAA has been under pressure to modernize the radar-based network, and its officials have been working with other agencies to devise a proposal this year for funding and updating the system, a plan that must be approved by Congress.
Boeing folded its air traffic business unit into its Phantom Works research and development program in 2004 to keep costs down with few modernization contracts at the time coming from government and industry.
Boeing also is leading a team of U.S. companies helping overseas counterparts research and develop plans for streamlining air traffic services in Europe. (Additional reporting by John Crawley in Washington)
