Story ID: 
Air Maestro Merges With Spidertracks
By: Mark Huber
Caption: Combined companies Air Maestro and Spidertracks will provide comprehensive SMS and flight tracking software and hardware solutions.
Word Count: 222
Toronto's Arcadea Group is merging its Australia-based Air Maestro software-as-a-service aviation safety management unit with Spidertracks, its New Zealand company that provides software and hardware for real-time aircraft tracking, flight data management, and flight operations quality assurance solutions.
Arcadea said the combined companies “will deliver a unified software platform that leverages the strengths of each company’s offerings and expands the suite of services available to customers, while allowing for a rapidly accelerated, shared product roadmap that will deliver unparalleled value to the market.”
The Group took majority equity positions in both companies last year. Under terms of the merger, Air Maestro CEO Aleks Banos will assume the role of CEO of the combined companies, while Steve Whitaker, Spidertracks’ CPO and COO, will serve as COO.
Banos said, "The Aviation industry is poorly served by a fragmented collection of sub-scale, legacy businesses. Most, at some degree of scale, are owned by short-term-oriented, financially focused private equity or venture capital firms that have no long-term vision for or staying power in this market. By combining Air Maestro and Spidertracks, we will immediately be one of the largest global players in the space, offering the most comprehensive and capable suite of solutions to the commercial aviation market."