United Airlines outfitting over 20,000 flight attendants with iPhone 6 Plus

united air

United Airlines announced today that it plans to equip its flight attendants with Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus next year. The airline says that the move will put important safety and service information at flight attendants’ fingertips and enhance their ability to meet customers’ needs.

Attendants will be using the handsets for a number of tasks, including onboard retail transactions for food, drink and other purchases. They’ll also be used for accessing important info via email and the United Airlines Intranet, as well as their policy and procedure manuals.

“iPhone 6 Plus will enable an even higher level of flyer-friendly service and will offer our flight attendants simple, one-touch access to valuable work information,” said Sam Risoli, United’s VP of inflight services. “We are thrilled to make this investment in our flight attendants.”

Risoli says future enhancements will enable flight attendants to completely replace their printed safety manuals with electronic versions on their iPhones, and will include various other customer-facing tools. United recently renewed its iPad pilot program with iPad Air 2 orders.

The rollout will begin in the second quarter of next year, to more than 23,000 flight attendants. Up until now, Apple had been having trouble meeting demand for the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus, but lengthy 3-4 week shipping times have been trimmed down to 7-10 days for most models.

[United Airlines]