Honeywell Aerospace

What It Is: A division of industrial giant Honeywell International, Honeywell Aerospace produces business aviation products that include engines, avionics, and cabin systems. Honeywell Aerospace’s roots go back just over a century to the eponymous company established by Lawrence Sperry, inventor of the autopilot. 

How It Grew: Through acquisitions and mergers, today’s Honeywell Aerospace rolled up Garrett AiResearch, Bendix, Lycoming, King Radio, and other pioneering aviation concerns, introducing such advances as aircraft pressurization systems, auxiliary power units (APUs), and onboard weather radar along the way.

In 1970, Garrett Research first test ran what became the Honeywell TFE731-series geared turbofan engine, a derivative of the TSCP700 APUs developed for the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 airliner. TFE731s went on to power more than a dozen business jets from Cessna, Dassault Falcon, Gulfstream, Hawker, and Learjet. Additionally, Honeywell’s TPE331 turboprops have powered more than half a dozen business and GA aircraft, including the King Air, Mitsubishi MU-2, Cessna 441 and Piper Cheyenne. 

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Honeywell Chairman and CEO Dave Cote

BJT cover subject Dave Cote was CEO of Honeywell 2002-2017.

In 1986, Sperry Aerospace was acquired and became a division of Honeywell, the former Honeywell Heating Specialty Co., which Mark Honeywell founded in 1906. In 1999, Allied Signal bought Honeywell and assumed its name due to the superior brand recognition.

What It Offers: 

Cabin Management System (CMS). The Ovation Select CMS is installed on some 2,000 business jets. 

Avionics. Iterations of the Honeywell Primus Electronic Flight Information System (EFIS) have anchored the flight decks of Cessna Citations, Learjets, Embraer Legacys, Bombardier Globals and Dassault Falcons. Pilatus selected the Primus 2.0 for its PC-24 Super Versatile Jet.

Turbines. Its current HTF7000-series engines power the Bombardier Challenger 300/350, Gulfstream G280, Citation Longitude and Embraer Legacy 450/500.

Data. Honeywell’s Annual Business Jet Aviation Forecast is a widely cited business jet sales prognosticator.

Notable Achievements: Honeywell’s JetWave Ka-Band connectivity offers global high-speed broadband for large-cabin business jets. The company recently introduced GoDirect Trade, an online real-time aircraft parts marketplace that employs blockchain technology to ensure listing authentication.

Quote: “GoDirect Trade…will help propel the aviation industry forward into the realm of other e-commerce sites that many of us use each day without a second thought.”—Thomas Noonan, director of material and part sales, StandardAero Total Aircraft Spares

Recent news: Embraer chose the HTF7500E to power its forthcoming mid-/super-mid Praetor 500/600. 

FAST FACTS

HQ: Phoenix

Employees: About 40,000

Annual revenue (2017): $14.779 billion

CEO: Timothy Mahoney

Website: aerospace.honeywell.com