Boston Logan International Airport improves aircraft and airport safety and efficiency with Exelis Symphony suite

HERNDON, Va., 12 March 2014. Officials at the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) has renewed and expanded its contract with Exelis (NYSE:XLS) to deploy a package of situational awareness, decision support, operations management, and environmental compliance solutions.

Exelis, a provider of critical network solutions, will deliver the Symphony suite of integrated applications to Boston Logan International Airport and Laurence G. Hanscom Field Airport, the largest general aviation (GA) airport in New England.

Symphony enables Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs), airports, and airlines to manage en route, terminal area, and surface operations to help enhance overall safety and efficiency.

“The deployment of the Symphony suite will provide Massport with a comprehensive airport operations management system on a single Web-based platform,” explains Ted Carniol, general manager of commercial aviation solutions for Exelis. “Our data and applications will deliver to Massport a critical network of information to improve overall airport resource coordination, safety, system throughput and environmental compliance.”

Procured solutions include: Exelis Vehicle Movement Area Transmitters for airport ground vehicle surveillance and Symphony MobileVue for displaying aircraft and ground vehicle tracking data on portable devices, such as smartphones and tablets.

Massport will continue its use of Symphony OpsVue for access to live gate-to-gate flight status information and Symphony EnvironmentalVue for enabling noise and operations monitoring.

The Massport contract also includes the deployment of Symphony PublicVue, a portal for an improved community information exchange. Symphony PublicVue provides visualizations and analytical flight-tracking capabilities to the public. The Web-based application allows the public to see aircraft flight-tracking data and submit feedback and noise complaints for improved community relations. Users can also define their location with a smartphone or tablet and show the relative position of the aircraft to that location.

As the prime contractor on the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’sAutomatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast program, Exelis has developed a fused version of FAA flight track data. This data set, known as NextGen data, combines all available FAA surveillance sources fused with flight plan and third party information. The Exelis NextGen data provides the most complete, accurate and timely view of National Airspace System-wide enroute, terminal, and airfield operations available.

Exelis is a diversified, top-tier global aerospace, defense, information, and services company that delivers affordable, mission-critical solutions for global customers.

Boston Logan Airport image courtesy Patrick Poendl / Shutterstock.com