19 November 2002

Grand Rapids, MI - On October 18th, 2002 Frontier Airlines A319 MSN 1863 made its first revenue flight from Phoenix to Denver, fitted with Thales/Smiths New Flight Management system and LCD Multipurpose Control and Display Units.

The entire Frontier Airlines A319 fleet is being retrofitted with the Thales/Smiths equipment. Entry into service on board Alitalia’s 5 A319 is scheduled for November, followed by 5 of their A321. Next will be 5 America West A319. Volume entry into service is planned for the beginning of 2003.

Thales Avionics and Smiths Aerospace have successfully developed the New FM by building on the strengths of each team partner. Smiths Aerospace is renowned for its flight management expertise, time proven with the 737 FMS. Thales Avionics draws on its extensive experience of Airbus aircraft systems, architecture, and man-machine interface, acquired during the development of most key systems fitted on Airbus aircraft.

The New FM is a highly attractive alternative for Airbus operators, boasting a solid market share. It introduces a new LCD MCDU, the largest navigation database capacity available for Airbus aircraft (5 megabytes), superior flight planning flexibility (multi revision temporary flight plan, undo function, improved DIR TO...), and upgraded display functionality: "what you see is what you fly".