American Airlines has officially become the latest airline to ditch extremely heavy pilot flight bags in favor of Apple’s iPad for all future flights, replacing millions of pounds of documents and maps, and saving pilot’s backs in the process! The airline officially made the announcement on Monday, noting that the switch should save the company upwards of $1 million in annual fuel costs.
AppleInsider reports:
The completion of American Airlines’ iPad rollout has allowed the company to discontinue paper revisions to its terminal charts. American Airlines is now the first major commercial airline company to fully utilize tablets in all cockpits during all phases of flight.
In all, more than 8,000 iPads have been issued to active pilots and trainers. That’s allowed American to eliminate 24 million pages of paper documents. American Airlines chose the iPad to serve as its official electronic flight bag for pilots. The switch eliminates the need to carry a 35-pound kitbag from all of the company’s planes.
“Our electronic flight bag program has a significant positive environmental and cost-savings impact,” said David Campbell, vice president of Safety and Operations Performance at American Airlines.
American Airlines is among the first to gain approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to use the iPad in all phases of flight, and will employ the device across their entire fleet of Boeing aircrafts. The iPads will be loaded with the Jeppesen Mobile Terminal Chart, which provides all the necessary tools, maps, and charts for pilot reference.
It’s always refreshing to me to see the iPad making such a tremendous difference across all of the various industries it has touched. Changing the world, one app at a time.
