Airbus has acquired air-traffic management firm Metron Aviation, subject to regulatory approvals. The US-based company is heavily involved in the U.S. NextGen air traffic modernization effort.
Metron is the prime contractor under the FAA’s System Engineering 2020 (SE2020) program, which is set to be a major conduit for industry involvement in the NextGen effort and a lucrative source of contract work.
“The acquisition of Metron Aviation supports the Airbus strategy to help countries improve their ATM,” said Eric Stefanello, CEO of Airbus ProSky.
Together, we can provide a new level of capabilities to support NextGen and [Europe’s] Sesar even better.” ProSky is a standalone ATM unit established by Airbus in January to oversee the aerospace giant’s interaction with ATM modernization efforts such as NextGen and Sesar.
“Like Airbus ProSky, Metron Aviation is not an ATM equipment manufacturer, so the acquisition is a perfect fit for our approach of seeking to partner with the FAA” and other air navigation service providers, Stefanello says.
Dave Ellison will remain as CEO of Metron. After the acquisition, Metron will operate as a U.S. subsidiary of Airbus Americas. Its board of directors will be chaired by Allan McArtor, who is also chairman of Airbus Americas.