American Airlines Switches to iPad-assisted Flights

FORT WORTH, USA – American Airlines is planning to take advantage of iPad in all phases of a flight from this month onwards.

Currently the iPad is the only tablet permitted by FAA to work as Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) because it is able to run authority-approved charting apps This replacement of traditional flight bag with the Apple iPad is estimated to save about $1.2m in fuel cost to the company annually.

The use of iPad at different stages of flight will assist pilots with real-time and up-to-date information with easy access. Moreover, substituting the paper-based traditional flight bag that weighs up to 35 pounds (containing about 12,000 sheets per pilot for flight references and manuals) with Apple’s device would help American Airlines in improving fuel efficiency.

AA wishes to begin using iPad as an EFB on the Boeing 777 fleet this month, but it intends to acquire approval for every other plane soon. By the start of next year, American Airlines will discard the traditional flight bags and complete its shift to the EFB.

In addition, the airline plans to equip its flight attendants with handheld tablets that will provide them with better information regarding its passengers.