United Airlines is to give an iPad to each of its 11,000 pilots over the next few months as a replacement for paper flight manuals. United, which merged with Continental Airlines last year, hopes that the move will make it easier and quicker for pilots to access real-time information.
‘The paperless flight deck represents the next generation of flying,’ said Captain Fred Abbott, United’s senior vice president of flight operations. ‘The introduction of iPads ensures our pilots have essential and real-time information at their fingertips at all times throughout the flight.’
United said that replacing paper manuals, which weigh around 17kg, would save 16 million sheets of paper and 326,000 gallons of fuel a year. That in turn will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 3.208 tonnes, it said.
The iPads will be loaded with Jeppesen Mobile FliteDeck, an app which provides interactive navigation information in real time.
United isn’t the first airline to hand iPads to its staff. Alaska Airlines received permission from the Federal Aviation Administration in May to allow them to use an iPad as an electronic flight bag. And Delta Airlines has ben testing iPads for the same purpose.
BA announced earlier this week that it was trailing the iPad with 100 cabin crew to allow them to access passenger information, timetables, safety manuals, and status updates.
Image by Pylon757.
