Jeppesen - History

History

The company was founded in 1934 by Elrey Borge Jeppesen, a pilot working for Varney Airlines, who was the first to make aeronautical charts for pilots to navigate in flight. The information which he collected and the charts that he drew were at first only for personal use, but fellow pilots quickly saw the benefits of using these charts and Jeppesen started selling copies of his chart book for $10. Other pilots started to collect data on their own routes and handing this to Jeppesen for him to include in his navigation book.

United Airlines, the airline for which Jeppesen worked in the late 1930s after Varney Airlines had merged with several other companies to form United Airlines, was one of the first airlines to start using Jeppesen's charts. After a while the chart business started taking up so much of Jeppesen's time that he quit his job as a Captain and became dedicated to making charts.

The terminal at then-under-construction Denver International Airport was named in honor of Jeppesen founder Elrey Borge Jeppesen in February 1991.

1940s
In 1941 Jeppesen moved the company from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Denver, Colorado.

In 1947 Jeppesen and the CAA collaborated to introduce standard instrument approach procedures and to establish the National Flight Data Center.

1957, Jeppesen expanded to Europe by opening an office in Frankfurt, Germany to provide services to customers in Europe and beyond.

1961, The company was purchased by the Times-Mirror Company (parent company of the Los Angeles Times).

1970s
In 1973 Jeppesen NavData(R) was first used commercially in flight management computer guidance systems (FMCGS).

In 1974 Jeppesen entered the flight training business when Times-Mirror merged it with Sanderson Films.

1980s
Jeppesen began a series of acquisitions that added to its product and service offerings:

• Bottlang Airfield Manual added visual flight rules (VFR) approach and airport information for Europe;
• Icarus, which became OpsData, added runway and performance analysis, used to plan and optimize aircraft takeoff and landing performance.

In 1989 Jeppesen purchased Lockheed DataPlan, a flight planning and weather services company. Jeppesen's current president and chief executive officer, Mark Van Tine, formerly worked for this company.

1990s
Between 1990 and 1995, Jeppesen expanded globally by opening offices in Australia and China to serve customers in the Asia-Pacific region, and continued to expand through acquisition by purchasing TannGuide, which became the JeppGuide airport directory; APU, which became part of OpsData; and International Aviation Publishers, which created aviation maintenance training manuals;

In 1996 Jeppesen introduced JeppView, which provided a complete, worldwide library of terminal aeronautical charts on CD-ROM;

In 1996, Jeppesen acquired MentorPlus, a maker of PC-based aviation and marine moving map and flight planning applications;

In 1998 Jeppesen introduced Internet-based delivery of NavData updates.

2000s
In 2000 Jeppesen purchased Nobeltec, Inc., a Portland, Oregon-based company that provides marine navigation software and charts;

In 2000 Jeppesen was acquired by The Boeing Company. Boeing bought Jeppesen from the Tribune Company, which had acquired Times-Mirror and was selling off its non-core assets;

In 2002 Jeppesen's first commercial electronic flight bag and Internet-based chart delivery were introduced;

In 2003 Jeppesen became the first commercial organization to be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration as a Qualified Internet Communications Provider (QICP);

In 2004 Jeppesen acquired SBS International, a New York City-based provider of crew scheduling services. Jeppesen acquired SBS through an arrangement with Boeing, which had purchased SBS in 2001;

In 2006 Jeppesen purchased Carmen Systems, a provider of crew scheduling and disruption management software. The company was headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, and had some 300 employees. Jeppesen quickly consolidated Carmen and SBS product offerings and locations;

In 2007 Jeppesen purchased C-MAP, a provider of digital maritime cartography, data services and other navigational information. C-MAP became part of Jeppesen's marine division. It has operations in Italy, the United Kingdom, Norway, Greece, Poland, Russia, India, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and the United States;

In 2008 Jeppesen purchased Ocean Systems, Inc., an Alameda, California-based provider of vessel and voyage optimization solutions for commercial marine operations;

In 2008 Jeppesen received FAA approval for its Airport Moving Map application for Class 2 electronic flight bags;

In 2009 Jeppesen received FAA approval to design and validate required navigation performance (RNP) procedures in the United States;

In 2009 Jeppesen sold its Nobeltec product line to Signet USA.

2010s
In 2010 Jeppesen received approval from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority of Australia to design, validate and maintain both required navigation performance and conventional instrument approach procedures;

In 2010 Jeppesen was named the 2010 INFORMS Prize winner for its organization-wide use of operations research.