that capability, Gilbert says Blue Sky was offering a significant innovation.
In the Gulf of Mexico, for example, he says some 30,000 people are employed on offshore oil platforms. Helicopters make an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 trips a week, ferrying people to and from the offshore rigs. Yet there is no air traffic control in the middle of the gulf, and no easy way to track the flights. “We came up with the concept of sending autonomous, GPS-embedded position reports at discrete time intervals to Iridium,” Gilbert says. The company created a Web-based display to show the location of the aircraft equipped with Blue Sky’s technology. Gilbert says the oil and gas industry embraced the technology, with many companies mandating that employees could not fly on aircraft in the gulf unless they were equipped with this GPS-based system.
Blue Sky adapted its technology for the U.S. Forest Service, which had similar problems with aircraft used to fight wildfires in remote areas throughout the United States. Over the past five years, Gilbert says Blue Sky has added additional features and functionality to its technology, including the ability to transmit flight plans, two-way text messaging, and a voice channel.
Gilbert says he self-funded Blue Sky’s initial operations and technology development. The company, which now has 15 employees in San Diego and Santa Barbara, CA) has been profitable for the past six years. “I get calls at least three times a month from VCs and M&A teams,” Gilbert says. “We don’t have any debt, and we don’t need the money, so it’s not a high priority these days.”
Gilbert says Blue Sky made its biggest strategy shift in 2005, when the company signed
