Expects 2019 Aerospace revenue of $710 million to $745 million

East Aurora, NY | November 14, 2018– Astronics Corporation (Nasdaq: ATRO), a leading supplier of advanced technologies and products to the global aerospace, defense, and semiconductor industries, today provided initial 2019 revenue guidance for its Aerospace segment and affirmed recent Aerospace 2018 revenue guidance.

“In our third quarter press release, we revised our Aerospace segment revenue guidance for 2018 to $670 to $675 million, which we are affirming today. The midpoint of this range would show 26% growth over 2017,” commented Peter J. Gundermann, President and CEO.

He continued, “We are also issuing initial Aerospace segment revenue guidance for 2019 of $710 to $745 million, which suggests organic growth next year of approximately 6% to 11%. We are encouraged by our strong booking performance of $617 million in the first nine months of 2018, and the continued strength of our aerospace markets.”

The Company also announced today the sale of assets related to its Semiconductor Test business, which is subject to usual closing conditions including a Hart-Scott-Rodino review.

Mr. Gundermann stated, “We are not issuing 2019 guidance today for our Test segment, given the pending sale and other developments in the business. We anticipate doing so by the end of the year. We have a backlog of $72 million, most of which is Aerospace and Defense, and are in negotiations for a large program expected to be worth $30 to $50 million, as previously announced. We expect the next 45 days will bring clarity about our Test segment in 2019.”

The Company also affirmed its Test segment revenue guidance of $120 million to $125 million for 2018. The Company expects to release its fourth quarter and full year 2018 financial results in late February 2019.

Latest expansion of strategic partnership is further endorsement of GX Aviation as the reference inflight connectivity solution for airlines across the world

United Kingdom | November 14, 2018–Inmarsat, the world leader in global mobile satellite communications, has expanded its global network of Value Added Resellers (VARs) for its GX Aviation inflight broadband solution with the addition of Honeywell Aerospace.

The agreement builds on Inmarsat’s long-standing partnership with Honeywell, who already manufactures the JetWave hardware for GX Aviation and sells Inmarsat’s Jet ConneX inflight wi-fi service for the business aviation market, through its GoDirect retail services business. In addition, it is further endorsement of Inmarsat’s commitment to operate the reference inflight connectivity network for airlines around the world.

GX Aviation is the world’s first and only global, high-speed inflight broadband service, delivered through a wholly-owned and operated network of Global Xpress (GX) High-Throughput Satellites (HTS). This award-winning solution allows passengers to seamlessly browse the internet, stream videos, check social media and more during flights, with onboard connectivity comparable to the mobile broadband services they receive on the ground.

As part of the agreement, Honeywell will now market GX Aviation to airlines worldwide through its rapidly growing GoDirect retail services business. This increases the company’s focus on end users, allowing it to tailor smart connectivity solutions directly to individual customers – whether in the airline or business aviation space. It addition, Honeywell will continue to manufacture and sell the JetWave hardware to airline and business aviation customers.

Philip Balaam, President of Inmarsat Aviation, said: “Inmarsat and Honeywell have an extremely successful track record of working together in the fast-growing inflight connectivity market. We are delighted to now extend this partnership. Honeywell’s unique depth of experience in this field and their close relationships with airlines make them a perfect fit as a value-added reseller of GX Aviation.

“This agreement also builds on our exceptional go-to-market strategy. It comes soon after a new strategic collaboration with Panasonic Avionics and our continued success with existing value-added resellers, which have done an outstanding job in selling GX Aviation to leading airlines across the world. Our distribution network is now truly the best of the best.”

Ben Driggs, President of Services and Connectivity, Honeywell Aerospace, said: “A shift is underway in the aviation industry, focused on higher margin opportunities in software, services and predictive data analytics. Today’s announcement gives us the ability to market our multitude of GoDirect Connected Aircraft services in addition to hardware directly to future airline customers.”

United Kingdom | October 17, 2018– STG Aerospace, the pioneering aircraft cabin lighting specialist, is delighted to announce that its full-colour Airbus liTeMood®LED cabin lighting system has been chosen by Volotea, the Spanish low-cost operator.

Currently operating a mixed fleet of A319s and Boeing 717s, the airline plans to move to an all-Airbus fleet over the next five years, resulting in this current order with STG Aerospace for no fewer than 45 full-colour liTeMood systems.  Installation on the first batch of aircraft have already begun. Having begun operations in 2012, Volotea currently flies to some 78 European destinations from bases in Spain, France, Italy and Greece.

Marcus Williams, Global Sales Director commented: “We are delighted to add Volotea to the growing list of airlines that have chosen our latest liTeMood LED lighting system after a rigorous technical and competitive evaluation of the available systems.  After completing an on-wing demonstration on their aircraft earlier this year, the Volotea team subsequently made a visit to the STG Aerospace Innovation & Engineering Centre in Wales where we finalised the ideal colour configuration to suit the Volotea brand identity.”

Isidre Porqueras, Volotea’s Chief of Cost and Operations Performance, commented: “Having made the decision to transition to an all-Airbus fleet, our next task was to ensure that our passengers would enjoy the most enjoyable and memorable journey we could offer them. Having experienced the impact of the full-colour liTeMood system at AIX Hamburg, we were convinced that STG Aerospace had what we needed.”

STG Aerospace introduced its dynamic, configurable, full colour version of liTeMood earlier this year for both single and twin aisle Airbus aircraft. The system provides a choice of over 16 million colours and can be used to create bespoke scenes (from northern lights to sunrises and sunsets to settings specifically designed to celebrate national holidays) in just minutes using a unique and patented wireless programming tool.

Truly plug-and-play, liTeMood® works with both classic and enhanced CIDS and can be installed in under 6 hours on a typical A320 with no changes required to the aircraft’s wiring or control panels. Approved by EASA and the FAA, it also delivers a range of operational benefits, including an MTBF in excess of 55,000 operating hours, a weight saving of up to 20kg on an A320 and 45kg on an A330, and a reduction in power usage of 55% compared to incumbent systems.

United Kingdom | October 11, 2018– Aircraft cabin lighting specialist, STG Aerospace, is delighted to announce that as part of its CSR programme it has chosen Orbis to be its official company charity.

Orbis changes the way the world sees by preventing and treating avoidable blindness and visual impairment. They train and mentor local eye care teams, educate communities, and partner with hospitals, NGOs and governments to save sight and transform lives around the world.

Orbis represents a non-profit alliance between the medical and aviation industries, operating the world’s only ophthalmic teaching hospital on board a customised MD-10 aircraft. With its converted McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30CF – already equipped with STG Aerospace’s saf-Tglo® emergency floor path marking system – Orbis transports the most advanced ophthalmological knowledge, surgical skills and facilities across Africa, Asia and Latin America. By equipping local eye care teams with the skills to treat eye conditions, such as cataract, and training others to do the same, Orbis leaves a comprehensive and sustainable legacy of high-quality care.

As part of its programme of support for Orbis, STG Aerospace has already organised a number of fundraising events at its Innovation & Engineering Centre in Cwmbran, including a sponsored Christmas event for its staff and a Welsh charity walk.  In addition, instead of sending out company Christmas cards this year, STG Aerospace will be donating the money it would have spent straight to Orbis.

Tessa Evans, Chief Financial Officer at STG Aerospace, commented:

“As a successful global business, we felt it was important to give something back on a global scale. And because our business is fundamentally about light and about flying, a charity that is using the power of aviation to prevent sight loss in some of the poorest countries in the world was an obvious choice. We’re looking forward to doing what we can to help Orbis achieve even more.”

Emma Hett, Corporate Partnerships Manager at Orbis, added:

“Partnering with STG Aerospace is a fantastic opportunity for Orbis, and I am so thankful to them for selecting our cause. I am looking forward to working with all their staff and customers to provide an interesting insight into the role of aviation in the fight against avoidable blindness, and easy ways in which they can support our work.”

Chicago and São Paulo | July 5, 2018– Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Embraer (B3: EMBR3, NYSE: ERJ) announced they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a strategic partnership that positions both companies to accelerate growth in global aerospace markets.

The non-binding agreement proposes the formation of a joint venture comprising the commercial aircraft and services business of Embraer that would strategically align with Boeing’s commercial development, production, marketing and lifecycle services operations. Under the terms of the agreement, Boeing will hold an 80 percent ownership stake in the joint venture and Embraer will own the remaining 20 percent stake.

“By forging this strategic partnership, we will be ideally positioned to generate significant value for both companies’ customers, employees and shareholders – and for Brazil and the United States,” said Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing’s Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. “This important partnership clearly aligns with Boeing’s long-term strategy of investing in organic growth and returning value to shareholders, complemented by strategic arrangements that enhance and accelerate our growth plans,” Muilenburg said.

“The agreement with Boeing will create the most important strategic partnership in the aerospace industry, strengthening both companies’ leadership in the global market,” said Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva, Embraer Chief Executive Officer and President. “The business combination with Boeing is expected to create a virtuous cycle for the Brazilian aerospace industry, increasing its sales potential, production, creating jobs and income, investments and exports, and in doing so, adding more value to customers, shareholders and employees.”

The transaction values 100 percent of Embraer’s commercial aircraft operations at $4.75 billion, and contemplates a value of $3.8 billion for Boeing’s 80 percent ownership stake in the joint venture. The proposed partnership is expected to be accretive to Boeing’s earnings per share beginning in 2020 and to generate estimated annual pre-tax cost synergies of approximately $150 million by year three.

The strategic partnership will bring together more than 150 years of combined leadership in aerospace and leverage the two companies’ highly complementary commercial product lines. The partnership is a natural evolution of a long-standing history of collaboration between Boeing and Embraer over more than 20 years.

On finalization, the commercial aviation joint venture will be led by Brazil-based management, including a President and Chief Executive Officer. Boeing will have operational and management control of the new company, which will report directly to Muilenburg.

The joint venture will become one of Boeing’s centers of excellence for end-to-end design, manufacturing, and support of commercial passenger aircraft, and will be fully integrated into Boeing’s broader production and supply chain.

Boeing and the joint venture would be positioned to offer a comprehensive, highly complementary commercial airplane portfolio that ranges from 70 seats to more than 450 seats and freighters, offering best-in-class products and services to better serve the global customer base.

In addition, both companies will create another joint venture to promote and develop new markets and applications for defense products and services, especially the KC-390 multi-mission aircraft, based on jointly-identified opportunities.

“Joint investments in the global marketing of the KC-390, as well as a series of specific agreements in the fields of engineering, research and development and the supply chain, will enhance mutual benefits and further enhance the competitiveness of Boeing and Embraer,” said Nelson Salgado, Embraer’s Executive Vice President, Financial and Investor Relations.

Finalization of the financial and operational details of the strategic partnership and negotiation of definitive transaction agreements are expected to continue in the coming months. Upon execution of these agreements, the transaction would then be subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals, including approval from the Government of Brazil, as well as other customary closing conditions. Assuming the approvals are received in a timely manner, the transaction is expected to close by the end of 2019, 12-18 months after execution of the definitive agreements.

“This strategic partnership is a natural evolution of the long-standing history of collaboration between Boeing and Embraer on a range of aerospace initiatives over almost three decades,” said Greg Smith, Boeing Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Enterprise Strategy & Performance. “It is aligned with Boeing’s enterprise strategy of pursuing strategic investment opportunities where they demonstrate real value and accelerate our organic growth plans. This partnership will strengthen the vertical capabilities of Boeing and enhance value for our customers through the full lifecycle of industry-leading products and services.”

Boeing and Embraer will benefit from a broader scale, resources and footprint, including global supply chain, sales and marketing, and services network, which will enable them to capture benefits from best-in-class efficiencies across the organizations. Additionally, the strategic partnership will provide opportunities to share best practices in manufacturing and across development programs.

The transaction will have no impact on Boeing and Embraer financial guidance for 2018 or Boeing’s cash deployment strategy and commitment to returning approximately 100 percent of free cash flow to shareholders.

 

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) is opening two institutes at the ZAL

Hamburg, Germany | November 10, 2017– Two institutes by the German Aerospace Center DLR are being established in Hamburg, highlighting the Hanseatic city’s national and international claim to excellence in the area of aeronautics research. The new research institutes at the Center of Applied Aeronautical Research ZAL in Finkenwerder were launched in the presence of numerous guests of honour, including Hamburg’s First Mayor Olaf Scholz. The Institute of System Architectures in Aeronautics is going to focus in particular on digital development of future types of aircraft as well as on transferring innovative production processes (“digital aircraft”). The Institute of Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul is going to concentrate on research regarding aircraft operation, specialising in the development of new maintenance and data processing methods (“digital twin”). Planning provides for the two institutes to have 80 staff members each at the ZAL. The Federal State of Hamburg is going to become an official base of the DLR as a result. Hamburg’s Aeronautical Research Center with 600 work places, which is among the most advanced in the world and was opened only two years ago, is now fully let. More than 40,000 highly qualified staff members in more than 300 companies and institutions make Hamburg the third biggest civil aviation hub worldwide. The aeronautical industry is among the region’s most important economic factors. Hamburg’s decisive advantage is the fact that know-how of global acclaim is pooled in the area, regarding all stages of an aircraft’s life cycle – from pre-development through to recycling.

Hamburg’s First Mayor Olaf Scholz says: “We are pleased that the DLR decided to establish a branch in Hamburg. The close cooperation of science and the business world is going to give rise to innovations that will be trend-setting for the entire industry. The ZAL is a place of innovative ideas that result in new products for the aviation industry.”

“We are delighted that we are now represented in Hamburg, one of the biggest hubs of civil aviation world-wide, with two newly established DLR institutes and to closely cooperate in the ZAL with our industry partners, in the field of application-oriented research,” says Prof. Pascale Ehrenfreund on the occasion of the opening ceremony.

In the years ahead, the new institutes are going to receive an annual ten million euros of joint funding from the German federal and state governments. As the institutes’ home state, Hamburg is going to contribute around 1.6 million euros per year. Furthermore, the City of Hamburg is going to provide another two million euros for investments during the set-up phase until the end of 2018. Industry-oriented research requires very close cooperation with the relevant industrial and medium- sized companies. This is why the institute is based in the ZAL, where the DLR has the opportunity to perform research in the same building and using shared large-scale testing facilities, with a large number of industrial partners from the aviation industry, including Airbus and Lufthansa Technik as well as suppliers and start-up companies.

Close coordination of the required research competence that needs to be established to allow for research results to be used by the industrial partners as effectively as possible, has already begun. In addition to the regional network, the institutes are planning to form research partnerships with various German and international companies.

Scalable version of the platform makes incorporating an SLT strategy easier and more affordable for more test scenarios

East Aurora, NY | October 30, 2017–Astronics Corporation (NASDAQ: ATRO), a leading provider of advanced technologies for the global aerospace, defense, and semiconductor industries, announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary Astronics Test Systems (ATS) is introducing an expansion of the ATS 5034 System-Level Test (SLT) Platform. Featuring new semi-automatic solutions in a scalable system, the ATS 5034 now offers lower volume, higher mix, small lot, and/or longer test duration options for semiconductor manufacturers.

With this introduction, the company now delivers configurations that facilitate the industry’s fastest, easiest development path from single-site to massively parallel system-level test for semiconductor packages of all types.

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Confirms Acceptance of EVS as a Vital Component of Flight Safety

East Aurora, New York | October 4, 2017–Astronics Corporation (NASDAQ: ATRO), a leading supplier of advanced technologies and products to the global aerospace, defense and semiconductor industries, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Astronics Max-Viz, announced today that more than 2,500 of its Enhanced Vision Systems (EVS) have now been installed in rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft.

Confirms Acceptance of EVS as a Vital Component of Flight Safety

East Aurora, New York | October 4, 2017– Astronics Corporation (NASDAQ: ATRO), a leading supplier of advanced technologies and products to the global aerospace, defense and semiconductor industries, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Astronics Max-Viz, announced today that more than 2,500 of its Enhanced Vision Systems (EVS) have now been installed in rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft.

Click here to view the entire release

London, UK | January 17, 2017– Technavio’s latest report on the global aircraft vertical stabilizers market provides an analysis of the most important trends expected to impact the market outlook from 2017-2021. Technavio defines an emerging trend as a factor that has the potential to significantly impact the market and contribute to its growth or decline.

Market size of aircraft vertical stabilizers is expected to reach USD 735.5 million by 2021,
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The market size of aircraft vertical stabilizers is expected to reach USD 735.5 million by 2021, with APAC occupying a majority of the market share of over 43%. The APAC region will also be responsible for the maximum incremental growth during the forecast period.

The major drivers for the growth in APAC are due to increase in passenger traffic and airline numbers. This will call for the procurement of an increased number of aircraft and their control systems like actuators, ailerons, and stabilizers. With commercial aircraft number expected to almost triple in the next two decades, there will be a steady income to the vertical stabilizers market from the region.

Request a sample report: http://www.technavio.com/request-a-sample?report=55769

Technavio’s sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report including the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more.

The top three emerging trends driving the global aircraft vertical stabilizers market according to Technavio aerospace and defense research analysts are:

• Adoption of cutting-edge actuators
• Development of next-generation flight control systems
• Fly-by-wire aircraft technology
• Adoption of cutting-edge actuators

“Actuation systems are the main drivetrain to the flight control systems, and offer increased efficiency, easy installation, malleability, self-monitoring properties, and decreased fuel consumption in aircraft. Therefore, most airplanes are adopting cutting-edge electrical actuator systems that are extremely reliable, cost-efficient, and easy to procure,” says Avimanyu Basu, one of the lead analysts at Technavio for aerospace research.

Some of the key advantages of advanced actuators are the enhanced aircraft performance regarding stabilization and control, flight at high angles of attack, protection against automatic stall and spinning, and gust alleviation. The entire range of Airbus A380 and Gulfstream G650 aircraft features hydraulic actuators, whereas the Boeing 787 aircraft implements electric actuators and electro-mechanical actuators for secondary flight control systems.

Development of next-generation flight control systems

As flight control systems evolve, their performance also improves. For instance, the traditional flight control systems are being replaced by the rudder-by-wire flight control system, which offers enhanced safety and passenger comfort. This technology has been widely being adopted by many North American business jet original equipment manufacturers, such as Gulfstream and Bombardier.

Another significant development is the Smart Electronic Control Units (SECUs) by Thales, which improves flight stability, smoothens flight trim, and enhances plane aircraft control. The system improves the flying experience by making the cruise smoother and providing an extended optimum performance, thus pushing for its increased adoption.

Fly-by-wire aircraft technology

“With the advent of fly-by-wire technology, the aircraft flight control has been automated. This technology allows a pilot’s commands to be transmitted electronically. This system has significantly reduced aircraft weight and complexity of aircraft manual controls, reflecting in a better fuel efficiency,” says Avimanyu.

The fly-by-wire technology has proved to enhance aircraft operation, and turbulent conditions can be dealt with more easily, decreasing component fatigue and providing passenger convenience. This technology fulfills all the regulations set by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other regulatory authorities, leading to its large market penetration. The fly-by-wire technology has been widely adopted by aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus and Boeing.