Rockwell Collins provides storm warnings for platform workers

For workers on off-shore drilling platforms, warnings of a dangerous storm can't come soon enough.

And with those platforms being positioned at ever greater distances from land, oil and natural gas companies rely on a Rockwell Collins subsidiary for early notification of an approaching storm that would require worker evacuation.

Wilkens Weather Technologies became part of  Cedar Rapids-based Rockwell Collins in 2010 with the purchase of Air Routing International, which serves the business aviation sector. The Houston, Texas, company employs 25 degreed meteorologists who provide weather forecasting coverage for off-shore oil drilling and shipping around the clock.

"Richard Wilkens, who founded Wilkens Weather Technologies in 1977, was working for another company in Houston when he decided to open his own weather forecasting service," said Mark Walquist, manager of weather support for Rockwell Collins. "Wilkens wanted to focus on forecasting for the oil and natural gas industry.

"At that time, the offshore oil industry was relatively young, the rigs were located in shallow water and the business was concentrated in the Gulf of Mexico. About a year later, some of Wilkens's colleagues from his previous employer decided to join him."

In 1978, Wilkens, along with business partners in Houston, formed Air Routing International to provide business aviation weather services, air security and flight routing. In 1983, Wilkens Weather Technology was merged into Air Routing International.

As oil and natural gas exploration companies initially concentrated in the Gulf of Mexico expanded globally, Wilkens grew with them.

"Right now, we service all the major oil and natural gas fields across the world," he said. "We have quite a base in West Africa and Southeast Asia.

"The weather forecasting in West Africa is not that robust. Our customers depend on us for notification of squall lines moving off the coast of West Africa.

"We also have a number of customers across the United States that need to be alerted to severe weather or flash flooding."

Wilkens Weather differs from the National Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center by offering customized alerts for specific customer-owned locations as it tracks storm systems. Some clients that require employees to begin evacuating 72 hours before a storm hits use Wilkens Weather to provide a timeline for the storm's approach.

Brian Kruger, senior director of applications and services for Rockwell Collins, said Air Routing International with about 200 employees handles everything for pilots of corporate aircraft from plotting their route to making hotel reservations for the flight crew.

"We monitor the aircraft from point A to point B all over the world. If we see a violent storm forming along their route, we look for a different vector to get them around it," Kruger said.

"We look for the best route to get them there in the shortest amount of time using the least amount of fuel."

Rockwell Collins's expertise in the development of the next generation of air traffic control is paying dividends for Air Routing International, he added.

"The air space is getting tighter in the North Atlantic and Europe, with less separation between aircraft," Kruger said. "Westbound and eastbound traffic is getting closer together as technology continues to improve.

"Some of the airports are flying into smaller airports that don't have the sophistication of larger airports and we're able to help them with that."

Kruger said Air Routing International is able to access Rockwell Collins avionics and communications expertise when there is an issue involving evolving technology. Rockwell Collins, through its Ascend Flight Information Solutions unit, has 65 global agents supporting customers in 120 countries.

"When a corporate jet arrives at its destination, we have one of our agents there to meet them, assist the VIPs through customs and take care of the aircraft in terms of servicing and security," Kruger said. "They also help the crew  understand the country's native culture."

Walquist said Wilkens Weather continues to look for new opportunities, including having several meteorologists work  directly with the crews of ships to understand how they use the company's forecasts.

"We're hoping to offer that opportunity to as many of our meteorologists as possible," Walquist said. "The more we understand what our customers need, the better that we can serve them."