General Electric buys Kent-based Naverus

Naverus, a Kent firm that pioneered satellite-based airplane-navigation technology to guide aircraft and streamline flight patterns around airports, has been acquired by General Electric for an undisclosed amount, the companies said Monday.

The technology Naverus implements can steer air traffic on autopilot along a smoothly descending, satellite-guided path, avoiding the stair-step approach and constant interplay with air traffic controllers now required to bring in planes.

By linking satellite-based GPS with the plane's autopilot system, the technology allows closer spacing of airplanes and more fuel-efficient landing approaches, experts say.

The sale comes two months after the company received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval to design and validate flight paths at U.S. airports for a wide array of airlines. The approval enables the company to play a role in accelerating the FAA's proposed modernization of the U.S. air-traffic system, known as NextGen.

Naverus was founded six years ago by Steve Fulton and Hal Andersen, former pilots for Alaska Airlines, which began utilizing such satellite-guided landing paths in Alaska in 1996.

The company, which now employs 60, also has designed satellite-based landing procedures for airlines in such places as China and Australia.

Naverus will remain in Kent and become part of GE Aviation Systems. "The strength of GE provides a platform for future innovation and growth," said Naverus CEO Steve Forte.