DATA: THE ANSWER TO AIR TRAVEL’S BIGGEST PROBLEMS Introducing Collins Aerospace Air Traffic Solutions

RTX recently completed restructuring activities which moved the Air Traffic Solutions portfolio over to their Collins Aerospace Connected Aviation Solutions business. We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Nicole White, Collins’ Vice President of Business Development, who shed light on this recent restructuring.

Who is Collins Aerospace Connected Aviation Solutions and what is their experience in the ATM industry?

Collins Aerospace is a business of RTX, the world's largest aerospace and defense company. Collins’ global team of 80,000 employees dreams, designs and delivers smarter, more connected solutions for passenger safety and comfort, mission success, space exploration, and operational efficiency and sustainability. As of July 1st, the FAA / civil ANSP focused Air Traffic Services (ATS) business has moved into the Collins Aerospace Connected Aviation Solutions (CAS) portfolio to better align products, capabilities, and service offerings.

Our ATS team has a strong legacy in providing government and commercial customers with solutions for the FAA, ANSPs, and the entire aviation industry. For more than 70 years, we have supported airport systems and integration, airline communications and networks, business aviation solutions, border management solutions and managed services. We provide roughly two thirds of global ATM coverage with automation and surveillance solutions, further strengthening our portfolio and connecting operators in the airspace.

How does the move expand the capabilities of ATS and their offerings to the ATM industry?

These organizational changes are designed to enhance our ability to seamlessly serve customers with greater flexibility across all domains of Air Traffic Management. We expect this realignment to provide capabilities in new and exciting ways and are looking forward to continuing our longstanding and collaborative relationship with the FAA while delivering safe aviation systems to the world.

What can a current Raytheon ATM customer expect to change with the move to CAS ATS?

The team working FAA programs at Raytheon Air Traffic Systems is fully moving to Collins, so there should be no disruption to our customers. The same engineers, management, facilities, and laboratories remain in place. More importantly, Raytheon FAA programs are now in the same organization as other Collins FAA programs, such as AMCS and DataComm, providing better communication and synergies for our customers. 

What are a few of the future developments that customers can expect to see from Collins Aerospace?

With the goal of reducing surface safety incidents and near misses, Collins has developed several tools to aid controllers in reducing further risks. Recently, Collins’ Approach Runway Verification (ARV) tool was approved for use by the FAA, which is used to detect and alert controllers to aircraft improperly aligned to a runway or taxiway. Within days of being deployed at the first airport, ARV properly detected a misaligned aircraft on approach and alerted the controller in time to provide instructions to the pilot. This avoided a likely wrong surface landing, which is a safety risk, and last-minute deviation that can result in costly additional flight time. ARV will be eligible for nationwide deployment later this year.