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JetBlue and American Airlines Giving iPad Electronic Flight Bags to All Pilots

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MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Both JetBlue and American Airlines have announced they are issuing iPads to all pilots to replace the heavy paper manuals in flight phases.

American says it is the first major commercial carrier to deploy Electronic Flight Bags (EFB) throughout their entire fleet, and the airline has decided to discontinue paper revisions of pilot flight manuals.

The airline estimates it will save more than 400,000 gallons of fuel per year, worth $1.2 million at current prices.

JetBlue announced today that it has also received FAA approval to issue iPads to its pilots, with some added capabilities that are unique to the airline. Because JetBlue is introducing in-flight Wi-Fi across all its aircraft, its pilots will be able to receive real-time weather and document updates in-flight.
Following a successful trial phase with approximately 60 pilots over several months, JetBlue already has begun giving all 2,500 pilots a fourth-generation 16 GB Wi-Fi capable Apple iPad. While JetBlue has been approved for a decade to use a PC-based laptop in the cockpit - called an Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) - the iPads will offer new capabilities and conveniences, especially as JetBlue implements Ka-Band satellite Wi-Fi.
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JetBlue pilots will use WSI Optima for weather updates, Comply365 for digital documents, and a third app for aircraft performance, weight and balance calculations. JetBlue will roll out its electronic flight bags over the next three months.

Article Link: JetBlue and American Airlines Giving iPad Electronic Flight Bags to All Pilots
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/06/26/jetblue-and-american-airlines-giving-ipad-electronic-flight-bags-to-all-pilots/
crackbookpro

crackbookpro

macrumors 65816
Feb 25, 2009
1,096
0
Om nom nom nom
Should have done that years ago... my buddy who flies uses his iPad all the time for the past 3 years when flying his lil jet from Texas to Florida. Forget which app he got, but he says... this is a must for pilots.

Coolest thing is - how much gas it actually will save over an accruing amount of time.
 
nepalisherpa

nepalisherpa

macrumors 68020
Aug 15, 2011
2,258
1,330
USA
Ha, at first, I read the title as "JetBlue and American Airlines Giving iPad Electronic Flight Bags to All Passengers" and I was like "HOLY $417"!
 
Rogifan

Rogifan

macrumors Penryn
Nov 14, 2011
24,132
31,176
Ah so this is why the stock is down today when the market overall is up.
 
TallManNY

TallManNY

macrumors 601
Nov 5, 2007
4,741
1,594
Rogifan said:
Ah so this is why the stock is down today when the market overall is up.
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Yes because another indication of total domination of a market that will someday be larger than smartphones and similar in size to PC (with much more shorter lifecycles on the products) is meaningless Because such domination clearly is not going to result in any increases in income.
 
ChrisNH

ChrisNH

macrumors regular
Jul 21, 2008
122
73
southern New Hampshire
JetBlue

They don't fly to my airport in Manchester, NH (yet) but JetBlue sent an Airbus here a few weeks ago from JFK and then back again after an hour. The reason? To test the iPad EFB. Curiously, Southwest Airlines on that same day at that same time was having a '15-year anniversary' celebration here, and I'm sure the sight of a JetBlue A320 just dropping in pleased them to no end.
 
C

cambox

macrumors 6502
Jun 8, 2010
256
35
omnipresent
ChrisNH said:
They don't fly to my airport in Manchester, NH (yet) but JetBlue sent an Airbus here a few weeks ago from JFK and then back again after an hour. The reason? To test the iPad EFB. Curiously, Southwest Airlines on that same day at that same time was having a '15-year anniversary' celebration here, and I'm sure the sight of a JetBlue A320 just dropping in pleased them to no end.
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Oh please not the Airbus Boing argument! We all know that Airbus rules ok.
 
D

Damian.

macrumors regular
Jan 3, 2009
157
26
KLM also announced it will begin issuing 5000 iPads to pilots and pursers.

The iPad enables staff to offer passengers even more personal service and can, for instance, be used to update them more quickly on last-minute operational changes.

The decision comes as the FAA confirmed it will revaluate the use of personal electronic devices, including the iPad on flights in the United States.
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Source
 
L

lkrupp

macrumors 68000
Jul 24, 2004
1,875
3,796
crackbookpro said:
Should have done that years ago... my buddy who flies uses his iPad all the time for the past 3 years when flying his lil jet from Texas to Florida. Forget which app he got, but he says... this is a must for pilots.

Coolest thing is - how much gas it actually will save over an accruing amount of time.
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Not everybody agrees, apparently. There's general aviation pilot raging away on the Apple discussion forums about how his iPad supposedly overheated while he was in a landing pattern. He claims the iPad is a danger to all pilots and passengers. His point apparently is that small planes don't generally have air-conditioned cockpits and that it gets real hot sometimes. I'm not a pilot so I'm not competent to comment on that claim. What about it?
 
L

ladeer

macrumors 6502
Feb 15, 2007
391
10
I would worry more about the lithium battery in it than overheating. They r prob rated.
 
A

avanpelt

macrumors 68030
Jun 2, 2010
2,956
3,877
eyebye said:
Makes sense. What happens if the iPad fails in flight though?
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My guess is they will have at least two iPads on every flight (pilot, co-pilot, and maybe a spare). The chances of multiple iPads failing in flight is extremely slim except in the case of something like an EMP attack. If an EMP attack happened, though, I'd have to think that there would be plenty of other avionic-related electronics on the airplane failing, as well.
 
kgtenacious

kgtenacious

macrumors regular
Jun 15, 2010
109
76
eyebye said:
Makes sense. What happens if the iPad fails in flight though?
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Previously, they did have to bring their chart bag with them. I'd be happier if they still brought at least the approach charts for the destination and alternates.
 
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