Aviation fuel and cost management technology firm Skymetrix has tied up a deal to acquire Rainmaker Business Technologies, a software developer specialising in crew pay and costs.

The acquisition was said to create a ‘one-stop-shop’ for airlines to improve their operational efficiency combining 40 years of industry expertise.

The combined company will offer customers a unified suite of solutions covering all major flight-related costs from fuel, crew, ground handling, airport, and navigation.

The technology centralises invoicing and payment data, automates inefficient manual processes, and provides detailed insights to enable airlines to make significant financial savings and boost operational performance.

Rainmaker’s customers, include JetBlue, UPS and Alaska Airlines while Skymetrix serves over 103 airlines, across 27 countries and four continents including Lufthansa, Etihad, Emirates and Ryanair.

Michael Scheidler, chief executive of Skymetrix, said: “The airline business is undergoing an exciting transition.

“As airlines rebuild from the pandemic, they are looking to adopt new innovative technologies and ways of working. It’s vital for airlines to progressively manage down their costs and risk as they undergo this shift.

“By combining Skymetrix – with Rainmaker’s ‘all things crew’ offering, we can now provide airlines with a clear line of sight of their full operations for the first time – enabling them to cut costs and create the space for sustainable growth.”

Brendan Fuller Rainmaker chief executive, added: “The aviation industry is under serious pressure to hire and retain flight crew.

“Managing the crew value chain from manpower planning – to crew scheduling and ‘day of operations’ is a highly complex, dynamic series of tasks. Rainmaker Crew Pay Manager solves a major problem by fully automating the calculation and processing of pay.

“Rainmaker Crew Analytics provides detailed evidence from ‘day of operations’ to validate manpower plans, it provides the critical feedback airlines need to optimize their workforces, plus ‘chapter and verse’ on managing crew costs.

“It makes perfect sense to combine our expertise on crew lifecycle management with Skymetrix; a company that shares our vision to transform airline operations with innovative technology. Our combined offering simplifies airline operations, to unlock greater productivity and efficiency gains for our customers.”

The funding for the acquisition was led by Ventiga Capital Partners, a UK-based private equity firm with a track record of investing in European technology companies. Pegasus Capital acted on behalf of Rainmaker.

Tom Fitzgerald, Investment Director at Ventiga, said: “We merged FuelPlus and Airpas to create Skymetrix, the global leader in critical cost management for airlines in June 2021.

“Today, we are excited to fund the acquisition of Rainmaker, which expands Skymetrix’s expertise in crew pay and reinforces our commitment to become the aviation markets ‘one-stop-shop’ for all its cost management needs.”