United Airlines said Tuesday that its pilots will start carrying iPads with navigational information, replacing bulkier paper versions currently in use.
The airline said it has already started deploying 11,000 iPads to United and Continental pilots; the two airlines are currently merging. The electronic flight bags (EFB) include paperless aeronautical navigational charts through Jeppesen Mobile FliteDeck, an iPad app.
“The paperless flight deck represents the next generation of flying,” Capt. Fred Abbott, United’s senior vice president of flight operations, said in a news release. “The introduction of iPads ensures our pilots have essential and real-time information at their fingertips at all times throughout the flight.”
According to the official news release:
Saving 16 Million Sheets of Paper and 326,000 Gallons of Jet Fuel a Year
Each iPad, which weighs less than 1.5 pounds, will replace approximately 38 pounds of paper operating manuals, navigation charts, reference handbooks, flight checklists, logbooks and weather information in a pilot’s flight bag. A conventional flight bag full of paper materials contains an average of 12,000 sheets of paper per pilot. The green benefits of moving to EFBs are two-fold—it significantly reduces paper use and printing, and, in turn, reduces fuel consumption. The airline projects EFBs will save nearly 16 million sheets of paper a year which is equivalent to more than 1,900 trees not cut down. Saving 326,000 gallons of jet fuel a year reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 3,208 metric tons.
iPad Improves Efficiency and Safety
With iPad, pilots are able to quickly and efficiently access reference material without having to thumb through thousands of sheets of paper and reduce clutter on the flight deck. United and Continental pilots’ work will be streamlined as they can immediately download updates on iPad to their electronic flight materials, rather than waiting for paper updates to be printed and distributed. In addition, by eliminating bulky flight bags loaded with paper, pilots will have less to lift and carry through airports and onboard the aircraft, reducing the risk of injury while on duty.
CAPTION: UNITED CONTINENTAL HOLDINGS, INC. PILOT HOLDING IPAD United announced that it is converting to paperless flight decks and deploying 11,000 iPads to all United and Continental pilots. (PRNewsFoto/United Continental Holdings, Inc.) CHICAGO, IL UNITED STATES