Interstate Electronics Lands 2 Foreign Deals

They might want to consider a name change at Anaheim’s Interstate Electronics Corp. Perhaps “International” would fit better.

The aerospace and defense contractor recently signed deals with Ethiopian Airlines and Malev Hungarian Airlines PLC to upgrade their fleets with Interstate’s flight management systems. “They keep adding planes, so the numbers grow, but right now it’s five for Ethiopia and 10 for Malev,” said Barry Halsted, sales manager for the company’s global positioning system-based products division.

The flight management systems use data received from global positioning satellites to ensure accurate, automated flight and landing approach navigation.

International sales accounted for 7% of Interstate’s sales of about $100 million last year, and the 850-employee company expects the total to climb to 10% this year.