SITA to Buy CAE's Flightscape in Airline Operations Software Deal

SITA has agreed to acquire Flightscape, the airline operations software business of Canada's CAE, in a transaction the parties expect to close in the first half of 2027, subject to customary conditions including regulatory approvals. Financial terms were not disclosed. More than 90 airlines use Flightscape software every day, according to SITA.

The deal marks a further step in SITA's shift from connecting aviation's systems toward helping airlines and their partners make better operational decisions, anticipate disruption and recover faster. Flightscape's software covers flight planning, crew management, operations control, ground coordination and in-flight services.

SITA, owned by the air transport community, connects airlines, airports and other industry partners through the information they share daily. The company said much of that information currently sits outside the systems airlines use to make operational decisions. Flightscape will add that operational core to SITA's existing products.

What does the acquisition change for airlines?

"Airlines need to make the best possible use of their aircraft, crews and infrastructure while responding to increasingly complex operational challenges," SITA Chief Executive Officer David Lavorel said. "With Flightscape, we will bring together our respective complementary capabilities to strengthen what we offer airlines and connect their operational decisions with insight from across the aviation ecosystem."

SITA framed the deal against rising operational complexity across the industry. More than 10 billion people a year are expected to fly by 2050, and disruption continues to affect daily operations. Every flight relies on several partners working together, yet each partner sees only part of the picture, the company argued.

Yann Cabaret, CEO of SITA for Aircraft, pointed to the pressure inside airline operations centers. "The hardest decisions in an operations control center come when plans change and every minute counts," he said. "Technology and AI can now help airlines and their partners see more of what is happening and respond together."

Cabaret said the aim is to give an airline's operations team and its industry partners the same information when plans change, "so they can recover as one operation rather than as separate parts." In cost terms, the proposition is straightforward: faster, coordinated recovery from disruption reduces delay minutes, crew overtime and aircraft idle time across a carrier's network.

Building on earlier acquisitions

The transaction extends a pattern of investment in airline operations technology by SITA:

• 2021: SITA acquired Safety Line, whose technology helps airlines fly more fuel-efficiently.
• Early 2026: SITA acquired Big Blue Analytics, whose artificial intelligence (software systems that learn from data to perform tasks) helps airlines build disruption recovery plans in minutes.

Both systems work alongside whatever systems an airline already uses. SITA said it will integrate them with Flightscape's systems in stages, in close consultation with customers. Work on connecting the products will begin only after the transaction closes.

What changes for Flightscape customers?

For the more than 90 airlines using Flightscape daily, SITA promised continuity. Customers will keep their current service and support across flight operations and in-flight services. The solutions will remain modular and open, so airlines can choose the products they need and connect them to their existing systems.

Carter Copeland, President of Flightscape, endorsed the buyer. "I believe SITA is a natural home for Flightscape and an excellent strategic fit for the business," he said. "This transaction positions Flightscape within an organization deeply connected to the global air transport industry."

For CAE, the sale narrows the Canadian company's portfolio to its core training and simulation business. For SITA, the acquisition consolidates a growing position in airline operations software, following the Safety Line and Big Blue Analytics deals and its pending purchase of Collins Aerospace Airport Solutions, also set to close in 2027. Integration work begins only after closing, meaning carriers should expect the combined decision-support offering to emerge gradually through 2027 and beyond.