JetBlue picks iPads for airline pilots

ipad flight bag cockpit

Yet another commercial airline has adopted Apple’s iPad in the cockpit. JetBlue announced today its pilots will use the tablet to check in-flight weather, prepare flight plans and view airport maps. The statement comes on the heels of American Airlines using the iPad on all flights.

To start, JetBlue pilots will use three “core” apps, but the carrier has already asked for FAA approval to employ the iPad in more cockpit chore, the company said…

“The iPads will replace laptops and a whole mound of paper manuals and charts,” the company said Wednesday.

In a familiar note for airlines embracing tablets, JetBlue noted “less paper means less weight on the plane, and less fuel burned.”

According to The Next Web:

The New York-based budget airline has been given approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, which will see its pilots receive custom-equipped iPads that serve up real-time information related to the flight.

Each JetBlue pilot will be trained to use three apps that are pivotal to their job – real-time weather, pre-flight planning and digital airport and aircraft charts – and the iPads will replace laptops and a “mound of paper manuals and charts”

American Airlines, which first gained FAA approval for tablets in the cockpit, announced earlier this week giving pilots iPads should save the company millions of dollars each year in both fuel savings, as well as reduced printing costs.

JetBlue teaser 001

To use the first three iPad apps, pilots will have Wi-Fi connections supplied by LiveTV.

Airlines, seeking ways to cut costs without piling on more passenger fees, increasingly view the iPad as a cost-saving tool. The average pilot carries 40 pounds of charts, maps and instruction manuals that can be stored on a one-pound tablet.

Along with saving jet fuel, the switch could also prevent off-time pilots recover from back injuries due to lugging such weighty flight bags.