History
The company was founded in 1934 by Elrey Borge Jeppesen, a pilot working for Varney Air Lines, who was the first to make aeronautical charts for pilots to navigate in flight. The information that 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 gave it to Jeppesen for him to include in his navigation book.[5] Jeppesen's wife, former flight attendant Nadine Jeppesen, was also important to the company's early years.[6]
United Airlines, the airline for which Jeppesen worked in the late 1930s, 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 focused his energy on making charts.[7]
The terminal at the then-under-construction Denver International Airport was named in honor of Jeppesen in February 1991.
In 1941, Jeppesen moved the company from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Denver, Colorado.[8]
In 1947, Jeppesen and the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) collaborated to introduce standard instrument approach procedures and to establish the National Flight Data Center.[9]
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).[10]
In 1973, Jeppesen NavData® 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.[8]
Jeppesen began a series of acquisitions that added to its product and service offerings:
In 1989, Jeppesen purchased Lockheed DataPlan, a flight planning and weather services company.
- Bottlang Airfield Manual added visual flight rules (VFR) approach and airport information for Europe;[9]
- Icarus, which became OpsData, added runway and performance analysis, used to plan and optimize aircraft takeoff and landing performance.[9]
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; Aircraft Performance Unlimited (APU), which became part of OpsData; and International Aviation Publishers, which created aviation maintenance training manuals;[9]
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;[9]
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;[9]
