Flight delays are usually because of weather and overcrowding, but aging technology is also one of the reasons behind delays. In a unique alliance, defense giant Raytheon and XM Satellite Radio Holdings are joining hands to bid for a contract that could help ease flight delays by overhauling the air traffic control system. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration will declare the winning bid as early as next week. The bid could be worth more than $2 billion over the next two decades for Raytheon, (if it wins the contract) in a task to replace the current World War II-era network of ground radars with one based on global satellite positioning technology. "This is a transformation of the air traffic control system," said Paul Takemoto, spokesman for the aviation agency. "We've made quantitative leaps over the years, from flags to bonfires to radars and now to satellites."

Ground-based radars turn once every 4.7 seconds in many cases, their signals deteriorate over distances. Satellite signals are updated every second and are beamed directly to planes and transmitted via ground antennas to control towers. Raytheon is competing against two other bidders for the air traffic control contract; Lockheed Martin, the largest defense contractor in the United States and ITT, an engineering and technology company.