Skift Take

Despite AA’s many troubles over the past year, it has become an early adopter among airlines from SXSW hackathons to paperless cockpits. This is a trend that can truly differentiate the new American.

The long awaited, previously announced iPad Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) has finally been approved for most of our airplanes at the company. In fact, we’re [American Airlines] the first U.S. airline to receive FAA approval for the use of the iPad as a replacement for all of our paper Jeppesen approach plates.

To get that approval, American had to have the iPad tested in a hypobaric chamber to simulate how the device would handle during a rapid decompression. They also had to arrange for mount testing with the FAA…

Since both pilots will be carrying an iPad, coupled with the extended batteries, the FAA feels this is as redundant as the regular manuals.

smartphone

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Tags: faa, ipad, pilots

Photo credit: iPads will soon replace heavy paper Jeppesen guides on American Airlines, the first U.S. airline to win FAA approval to do so. Fly4Fun / YouTube

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