company Profile / Navblue Fast Forward Airbus’ new flight operations division, Navblue, is aiming to be nimble and quick with the rock solid backing of an industry giant. By Lisa Gordon t’s fitting that Navblue has a facility in Waterloo’s cutting edge Accelerator building, because the company has certainly been on the fast track since last July. That’s when Airbus Group formally launched Navblue as its new flight operations and air traffic management subsid- iary. But while the name is new, there’s no doubt it is backed by a wealth of experience. An amalgamation of four separate entities, readers may be surprised to learn that the software component of Airbus’ new venture had its genesis in Canada. Back in 1987, husband and wife team Ray and Dorothy English—he an airline pilot and she a self-taught com- puter programmer—founded Navtech in Waterloo, Ont. From ideas that first took shape over their kitchen table, the company went on to develop the first flight planning software for a personal computer (PC). “In the 1980s, there weren’t a lot of options,” recalled Shawn Mechelke, Navblue’s vice-president of N-Software Services and a 25-year airline industry veteran. “There were no networks at that time; it was standalone basic computers with no connectivity. You would buy a solution and install it on the machines at your office.” Mechelke was working at American Trans Air (ATA) Airlines when it became the first to buy Navtech’s flight planning software. He said digital progress hit the airline industry in waves. First, so-called “dumb” terminals displayed information. Then, in-house networks were developed, enabling the use of a server connected to PCs. The dial-up modem was next, allowing airlines to access some digital data. But it was the World Wide Web that really launched air- line operations management into the digital age. “Once the Internet started, that’s where everything went from in-house systems to where we are today and where we’re going tomorrow with software as a service,” Mechelke told Skies. “Putting the server in a big data cen- tre facility . . . That’s where the pivot point happened. All you need is a computer with the Internet and you can get everything you need.” From its first successes, Navtech’s growth was steady and sure. Over time there were strategic partnerships and small acquisitions that continued to build on the com- pany’s capabilities. I 40 SKIES Magazine | May/June 2017 In 1993, Navtech bought Compuflight, an addition that introduced aircraft performance data to the equation. In 1998, the weather service division of Global Weather Dynamics, a small U.S. company, was added to the mix. The acquisition of Airware Solutions in 2001 introduced crew planning capabilities, which allowed Navtech to expand its products to facilitate preferential crew bidding. In 2005, the company purchased European Aeronautical Group and entered the charting busi- ness. Finally, a decade later, Navtech absorbed a small U.K. company called DW International, enabling satellite navigation data to be incorpo- rated into its flight planning software. One of Navtech’s longest-standing employees is Mike Yeo, now Navblue’s chief technology officer. He started with Navtech as a comput- er science co-op student in 1998 and worked his way through various progressive posi- tions to the executive suite. In the transient world of software development, Yeo is well aware that it’s unusual to spend your whole career in one place. “As it’s grown, I appreciate that this company has given me great oppor- tunity to explore new roles and build new technologies,” he said. “From day one, I was doing important things that were providing impor- tant solutions to industry.” Yeo recalled that in the early days, Navtech’s 30 or so staff members wore many hats and the company brought in about $4 million in revenue. “It’s been a great journey to see it grow,” he said. “Just prior to the acquisition, we had some 300 people with offices all over the world, $50 million in revenue and served more than 400 airlines.”