Airline Industry Now Using iPads In The Cockpit To Increase Efficiency

We all know that iPads are replacing textbooks in many schools around the world. Apple has sold over 4.5 million iPads to schools just in the United States. It seems another industry has also decided to embrace the iPad as a way to upgrade and optimize performance, and that would be the airline industry. It has started with United Airlines. The next time you board one of their flights, take a peek into the cockpit. You might just see an iPad mounted in there, ready for the pilots to use.

You’ve probably seen the black flight bags most pilots roll behind them as they board the airplane. Most airlines require pilots to take those heavy flight bags with them on every flight. Each bag contains maps, flight plans, books of procedures and other books of information the pilot might need to reference during a flight. Over the years, there have been some attempts in the airline industry to switch over to electronic flight bags, but for the most part, pilots are still doing it analog style. That is until now.

United Airlines just approved iPads as a replacement for flight bags. This doesn’t apply to all aircraft, but it does for many of them. Apparently United Airlines will save 16 million sheets of paper each year by making this simple switch. It’s a revolutionary idea, and I’m sure the airline industry as a whole will be watching to see how it works out. It could even increase the airline’s ability to keep flights running on time. If all goes well, other airlines will most likely follow their lead.

This isn’t the only time we’ve seen iPads being used in the airline industry though. As a matter of fact, just last month Patently Apple reported that even more airlines are now giving passengers individual iPads to use during flights. Mark all this down on the scoreboard as another win for Apple.