Southwest Airlines Awards GE $40 Million Large Area Display System Contract

GE Aviation has been awarded a $40 million contract from Southwest Airlines to provide the new SDS-6000 large area display suite for Boeing 737 Classic aircraft. First production deliveries will take place in early 2011. The systems will be installed on up to 150 aircraft.

Integrated with the flight management system upgrade awarded to GE by Southwest last year, the combined system will provide the full benefit of flying the most efficient Required Navigation Performance (RNP) operations available. Southwest will be well equipped to lead the way in the expansive use of these approved routes realizing fuel, emission and noise reductions.

Patricia O’Connell, president, Civil Business unit for GE Aviation Systems, said, “Southwest Airlines is the launch customer for this new large area display suite. This integrated display system, coupled with our flight management system, enables operators to fly advanced navigation procedures and reduce operator costs from less fuel, less emissions and less through life costs.”

The GE solution comprises a complete integrated cockpit display solution, including primary flight displays, standby instrument and control panels. The primary flight displays, which have been designed to mimic the appearance of the B737 Next Generation cockpit, feature new 15.4” widescreen displays with innovative dual-channel display architecture, which is patent pending and offers unprecedented levels of display availability. The displays feature integral signal and video processing and graphics generation, eliminating the need for a separate symbol generator. The suite includes GE’s Integrated Standby Instrument System (ISIS), which provides a single box solution for standby instrumentation. Southwest has selected Boeing Commercial Airplanes as the integrator of the system into the fleet of Boeing 737 Classic aircraft.