Hughes Wins FAA Pact to Pick Up Navigation Job

Hughes Aircraft Co. received a $50-million interim contract Thursday to continue work on a system for the Federal Aviation Administration to improve airline satellite navigation.

Work will be done by Hughes’ Fullerton-based command and control systems unit, which also is a key contender to complete work on the system under a $475-million contract.

The 180-day contract keeps work going on development of the Wide Area Augmentation System after the FAA a week ago canceled its agreement with the original contractor, Wilcox Electric. FAA officials said they were not satisfied with the Kansas City, Mo., company’s progress.

Hughes would not comment on the contract, but in a statement issued Thursday, the FAA said the company’s Fullerton-based command and control systems unit “already has FAA-approved plans, processes and procedures in place that will be essential to successful development and implementation” of the complex electronic system of improving the accuracy of navigation data obtained from satellites.

While the interim contract is not expected to affect employment at the Hughes campus in Fullerton, work under the full contract likely would create new jobs there.